Subtle Variations
by Boristus
Summary: Small changes can have large results. When a 12-year old Saotome Ranma escapes from his father on their way to the Tendo dojo, we find out just how large these results can be.
1. Prologue: Stormclouds on the Horizon

April 10, 1993 - Minato, Tokyo

The sun shone down on the streets of central Tokyo as the city reached the middle of its day. Crowds of children and teenagers met with friends to lament the start of a new semester, while adults hurriedly rushed around, securing themselves lunches before returning to work. Trains pulled into stations, and busses collected passengers.

Such was the standard for a sunny Saturday, going unnoticed by those who frequented the city. However, this routine of life was being mulled over by one person as she walked towards her destination.

While she lived in the area, and was used to such a seemingly normal day, she could not help but feel that something was... off. She couldn't quite place it, but she had the distinct feeling, almost a premonition, that something was going to happen. Between this feeling, the causeless cracking of three of her best teacups, and the shattering of her family shrine, she felt that these were portents that should not be ignored.

Her immediate thoughts went out to her husband and son, both of whom she had not seen in nearly a decade. Had something happened to her family? It had, after all, been days since the last postcard her husband had sent her arrived, informing her that they planned to stop at one last place before they returned from their eight-year training trip. He had mentioned the name of the training ground, one that made her rather uncomfortable. 'Jusenkyo', the training ground of cursed springs.

By the itinerary he had sent with the letter, they should have arrived at the springs earlier this morning. What had happened? In his last letter, Genma had declared that the place was not cursed, claiming it to be little more than a silly superstition, but her own training made her doubt his words. What sort of horrific curse could exist in such a place? Had her husband and son succumbed to its terrible powers?

Saotome Nodoka broke herself from such thoughts as she arrived at her destination; a shrine she often visited when she had questions beyond those her own powers could answer. Tugging the strap of the canvas bag across her back, she began to climb the steps to the temple proper.

On the landing above, a familiar young girl was sweeping leaves and dirt off of the stone tiles. Her long, raven hair swished back and forth with the motions. She smiled at the girl. It was a shame her grandmother had not passed their Art on, for she was sure that the young shrine maiden would have excelled at it.

The girl looked up from her work, and smiled at the sight of a familiar visitor. "Auntie Nodoka!" she exclaimed, walking over to the steps. "What brings you to the temple today?"

"I've come to consult with your grandfather" she replied, keeping a smile on her face. "I've had some disturbing omens that I wish to ask him about. Is he here?" Her smile weakened slightly, thinking about the omens she had received.

"Yes Auntie, he was consulting the Fire, last I saw. I haven't seen him leave." Nodoka nodded at this. She knew her uncle could spend hours attempting to read the Fire.

She bowed to her niece. "Thank you, Rei-chan." The other girl, Rei, bowed in turn. With that, Nodoka walked over to the building housing the Great Fire.

She slid the door open, and peered in. True to form, her uncle was meditating before the brazier, a look of deep concentration on his face. He was so still that one might mistake him for sleeping.

Wait...

Nodoka walked towards him. 'Surely he isn't _actually_ asleep, is he?' she thought, as she reached out her hand, planning to grab his shoulder.

"It isn't very nice to disturb a fire reading, No-chan." The (apparently awake) Shinto priest said. Nodoka stopped her hand short, and retracted her arm. The diminutive priest turned around to face her, his stern expression lightening up in an instant. "So, how is my favorite niece doing today?"

He noticed her worried expression before she even spoke. "Not as well as I could be, truth be told." At his questioning glance, she continued, explaining her ill feelings and omens. He contemplated the information for a moment before reaching a decision.

"Sit down next to me, No-chan. Let us see of the Fire can give us some answers." As they sat down, he began to concentrate on the fire once more. They sat there for around ten minutes before he reacted again.

"I'm sorry, No-chan." He said, "but I cannot tell what caused the omens. From what the fire tells me, your family is alive and in good health. Perhaps the feeling is from something else?" he asked.

Nodoka sighed. Her family was safe! If they survived the train grounds, that means they should be returning home soon. "Thank you, uncle. If they are safe, then there is nothing else that matters."

Shortly after, they left the building, catching up on what had happened the last few weeks, and making plans to meet during the upcoming Golden Week. A few hours later, Nodoka departed, turning down an offer to stay for dinner. As she returned home, she was elated. Her family would be returning to her soon! Oh, how she longed to see how manly Genma had raised their son to be!

She passed her cousin's house, just a few doors down from her own. It had been Nodoka that had convinced her cousin and husband to move to Azabu-Juuban, and neither had regretted the decision since. If nothing else, it gave the two women plenty of time to chat while her cousin's husband was at work, and her two children were at school.

Stepping into her home, she placed the canvas bag with her Nodachi in her room, and opened her closet. She stripped out of her blouse and slacks in favor of a Kimono. It had been a while since she had worn one, but all of the Kimono were clean. She sighed as she went to make herself dinner. She preferred plain clothes, but it would be unbecoming of a Saotome woman, even one only by marriage, to greet her husband after such a long time wearing anything less. Besides, she had bigger things to concern herself with rather than her garb.

Her family was coming home.

She had much to do.

(A/N: So, first submitted fic. Let's see how long I can keep this up. Don't worry about the prologue being short; the next chapters are already longer.)


	2. Chapter One: Love Letters from China

April 25, 1993 - Nerima, Tokyo

The ground shook slightly as the unconscious form of a giant panda collapsed into a puddle. Standing over him, a black-haired girl in red and black Chinese silks sneered in his direction.

"I'm going back to China" she said, flicking her pigtail over her shoulder, "Suck on _that_, old man!" With that, she grabbed up her pack, and began to walk away.

The panda sat up suddenly, and grabbed a street sign knocked over in their skirmish. Hefting the sign like a club, it turned to face the slowly retreating girl. If she wasn't going to come willingly, it would take her by force!

It took a step forward, to get into range, and made a fateful mistake,

It stepped in a puddle.

Under normal circumstances, the girl, being too angry to hear the panda stand up, would have been viciously bludgeoned over the head with the traffic sign, losing consciousness, and allowing the panda to carry her off. She was not, however, so distracted as to miss the sound of a large paw breaking the surface of water.

As it swung the sign down, she ducked forward. The top half of the sign crumpled from the force of the swing as it embedded itself in the pavement. Enraged, the girl kicked the offending traffic post out of the pandas grasp, dropping her bag again as she turned to face her suddenly revived foe.

"Dammit Pops!" she snarled, charging at the black and white creature. "Don't ya know ta stay down when yer beaten?" She threw a solid punch at its head, which the panda only just managed to avoid. It slid on the slippery surface of the road for a moment, before it made a desperate leap for the road sign.

The girl, noticing her opponent's goal, lunged at the sign as well. Despite her advantage in the speed department, the panda got to the sign first. The girl rolled under a horizontal slash from the highly deformed weapon, and grabbed the second travel bag, the one belonging to the panda.

The creature in question swung again before it noticed, cleaving the front of the bag in two. Angered, it attempted to remove the sign from the ground below it's bag, only to find the improvised weapon was firmly wedged into the sidewalk. Grunting, it opted for a charging punch instead.

The girl snorted derisively at the telegraphed attack, and calmly ducked under the punch, delivering her own counter strike to her foe's stomach. As it attempted to double over from the strike, she grabbed its leading arm, and threw it through a concrete wall.

Learning from her previous "knockout" of the panda, she hurried over to her bag, hoping to leave the scene before it regained its wits. As she passed the panda's ruined pack, she noticed that a wallet had tumbled out. Smirking, she swiped it without slowing down.

'Heh. Let's see how far pop's ill-gained pocket cash can get me.' she though to herself as she bounded away from the fight. She jumped across a few roofs before returning to the street; least the panda spot her escape.

The panda in question, of course, had just barely managed to extract itself from the wall. Noticing the girl was gone, it gathered up the remains of the pack, and took off in the direction the girl had previously been going.

Unfortunately for the panda, this was nearly opposite the girl's current heading.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the girl in question was seated near the back of a coffee shop, out of view of the street. She took a sip of her tea, and began rummaging through the wallet stolen from the panda.

For the most part, the contents of the wallet were uninteresting. A few receipts, a few IOUs (her blood began to boil when she saw that many of these listed her as payment for increasingly-petty objects and meals) and less than 5000 yen in cash.

More interesting, though, were the pictures. There were a few of her and her father from various points during their travels, as well as one of an unfamiliar family, with two adults and three young girls. The oldest child was around seven, and the youngest still a toddler.

A few showed her father with the man from the family portrait, more often than not with a child-sized area either cut or blacked out. She wondered who her father could have detested so much as to remove him from the photos.

Finally, she came upon two pictures that interested her more than any other. One showed a younger version of her father with a young and _very_ pretty woman. It was obvious from the photo that they were very close.

The second photo made her heart stop.

Once again, the picture showed her father and the woman happily standing side by side. However, the woman was also carrying a third person, a black-haired child no more than two or three years old, it's features a mix of the other two.

It was their child, and she knew it was her.

The girl sat there, slowly draining her teacup. She had never really though about her mother before. She had no memories of her, and her father had never answered any questions about her. Now, she knew what her mother looked like. She could clearly see where she got her good looks from (she quickly shelved that though. The less focus on her feminine appearance, the better), for she resembled her so closely.

Intrigued by the discovery, she hastily searched the wallet for more information on her newfound mother. Her efforts quickly turned up a small card of addresses, mostly to shrines in the area, although two stood out to her. One was to a "Tendo dojo of Anything Goes" near Furinkan station, here in Nerima ward, the place her father had been attempting to bring her. The other was to the residence of "Saotome Genma and Nodoka", in Azabu-Juuban, Minato ward.

Finishing her tea, she looked down at the address card. She had a choice. On the one hand, she could continue on to this "Tendo dojo", where her father almost certainly was going to be. On the other hand, she could go to her family house, which may or may not have her mother.

As much as she wanted to see her mother, there was no telling if she was even still alive. For all she knew, she was dead, and her father could have sold the house before they left for the training trip. And even if her mother was alive and there, what if she was even _worse_ than her deadbeat father? She did, after all, marry the fat panda, and let him take her on the training trip.

Didn't she? On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise her if pops had taken her in the middle of the night, leaving only a note to tell of their passing. And maybe her mother was arranged to marry pops; after all, had she not run from him for trying to do the exact same thing to her?

She made her decision. With so much unknown, her mother deserved the benefit of a doubt. It wasn't as if she could have _too_ many surprises in store, and even if she did, she had enough money to take a train to Juuban and back if need be.

After paying for the tea, as well as a travel cup of hot water, the soon-to-be-Male Saotome Ranma made her way towards the nearest train station.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Genma-panda sighed as he approached the Tendo Dojo. He had spent the last two hours searching for his ungrateful offspring, to no avail. The nerve of that boy, to run off and abandon his duty to the family! The thought of such dishonor and disrespect could make a man weep!

He decided that if was to find his worthless son, he would need to enlist the aid of his old friend and soon-to-be in-law Tendo Soun. He knew the area better than Genma, and with his help, they were sure to find the boy.

The schools would be joined, and his retirement secure. It was only a matter of time.

He walked to the gate of the Tendo compound, and announced his arrival. When only a series of growls emerged, he immediately regretted not getting some hot water beforehand. Grumbling, he threw open the gates, and let himself in.

* * *

Tendo Soun was getting worried. He had been expecting his old friend to arrive _hours_ ago, yet there was no sign of him. His three lovely daughters had spent this time letting the idea that one of them was going to marry a complete stranger sink in, and were gradually darkening to the idea. If Saotome didn't get here soon, they might start objecting to the arrangement!

Just as he was beginning to lose hope, the compound gate opened. Everyone in the room looked at one another, before hurrying to the foyer.

"That must be them!" Soun exclaimed, running at the front of the group. "Saotome, old friend! You've finally come!" He threw open the front door, and skidded to a halt. Not four centimeters before him was the largest panda he had ever seen.

The panda took a step forward. The Tendos, a step back in return. "Father..." Kasumi started, only to be interrupted by the panda holding up a sign.

'Tendo, my friend! It has been a long time!' read the sign. The Tendos blinked. Since when can pandas write? Before they could react, it held up another. 'How have you been?'

"Ah..." Soun responded ever so eloquently. "S-saotome? Is that you?" He blinked again. 'Strange... I don't remember him being a panda before... and where is his son?'

"This is your friend." Nabiki said, flatly. "Since when do you hang out with pandas, anyways?" She was still in shock over this turn of events; she couldn't even think of how to turn a profit from it.

'There is a perfectly good reason that I am a panda, I assure you.' the third sign read. 'If you could just get me some hot water, I can explain.'

Soun nodded, and led his friend to the furo. The girls returned to the living room, and began to discuss their opinions on their guest. Kasumi was worried about cleaning up panda hair. Nabiki, who had finally figured out how to profit from this, was curious as to which zoo would pay the most for a panda that could write. Akane was just glad the panda was unaccompanied; maybe no one would have to get engaged after all.

After a few minutes, their father returned with a stout, balding man in a white gi and glasses. When they sat down at the table, Soun introduced him.

"Girls, this is my old training buddy, Saotome Genma." Genma bowed. "He was the panda outside." He turned to Genma. "Genma, these are my three daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane." The girls gave their own greetings in return, before Nabiki asked the question of the hour.

"How were you the panda? That didn't look like a costume to me." If she couldn't sell an intelligent panda, she could at least wring him for all the knowledge he had. Such an accurate disguise technique could come in handy, after all.

Genma crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "It all started in China..." he began, launching into the sort of long-winded and incredibly one-sided tale only a master of Anything Goes could manage.

"... and so, my ungrateful son slipped away like a coward, abandoning his family duty." he finished, shedding tears for added effect. While none of the girls bought his story, or at least all of it, Soun ate up every word, and was by the end was crying as well.

"This is terrible!" He exclaimed. "If your boy has run off, how will the schools ever be joined?" He looked at his friend, hoping he had a solution.

"That is why I came here, Tendo." Genma replied. "If the schools are to be joined, then we must find the boy! He's a simple lad, and in an unfamiliar city. He can't have gotten far! With your help, we'll have him back by sunset!"

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Azabu-Juuban, Minato.

A now-male Ranma stepped out onto the streets of Minato ward, resisting the urge to kiss the ground beneath him. Who would have though the Tokyo transit systems could be so stressful? Before, he had resisted roof hopping to his destination, if for no other reason than a need to see the street signs. After two hours on sardine-packed trains, however, he was seriously questioning the wisdom of this.

Still, he was unfamiliar with the area, and needed to get an idea of where he needed to go. He made tracks for a small corner-store near the station. Maybe he could get a snack with his directions.

Ten minutes later, he was at the end of the correct street. The twisting, tightly confined streets of the inner city had given him trouble initially, but after enlisting the aid of two shopkeepers and a police officer, he had managed to find his way.

He had to admire the houses on the street. To be able to afford such big residences so far inside the city, the families here must be very well off. Did this mean the Saotomes were well off, too? Growing up with pops, he wouldn't have though so, but then, who in their right mind would trust _him_ with any form of money?

With this in mind, he looked up at the gate corresponding to the address on the card. It was a large, two-story house, with a blend of traditional and western elements. What appeared to be medium-sized dojo sat to the side of it. With its lawn, it was easily one of the bigger properties on the street. Both the yard and house were well maintained, and a sign with the name "Saotome" sat by the gate.

Checking the yard for puddles, and the skies for more rain, Ranma made his way to the gate. He rang the bell, and walked in, hoping his mother was in.

* * *

Saotome Nodoka was just starting dinner. For the last few days, she had taken to making bigger meals, large enough to feed herself, and two people with Genma's appetite. She wasn't worried about leftovers; after all, she _did_ have a niece a few doors down capable of eating just as much.

He sighed wistfully to herself. Ranma's thirteenth birthday was only a few days away. She hoped that they would return in time for her to celebrate it with him. This brought her to think of how manly her son would look, blowing out he candles on the cake as a horde of suitors looked on, barely held back from jumping him then and there.

She was shaken from her daydream by the sound of the front bell ringing. That was odd, she though, who would be visiting her at mid-afternoon on a Sunday? It couldn't be Ikuko; she had taken her family out of the city for the day, and wouldn't be back until much later.

Suddenly, realization hit her. 'Surely it couldn't be... _them_!' Any further thoughts were silenced, as she grabbed up the family honor blade, and dashed to the front door as quickly as she could, while still remaining dignified.

Gripping the sword in one hand, she slid the door open. Standing on the porch was a young man in his early teens, tall and well muscled with raven hair tied back in a pigtail. He had the strong facial features of her own family, and wore slightly damp Chinese silks. A large, heavy-looking bag was slung over his back, which he carried as if it weighed no more than a feather pillow.

He looked straight at her with his ice blue eyes, the same eyes she had, with a flash of recognition. He pulled out a photo, comparing it to her, before he spoke out.

"Mom...?"

The moment Ranma spoke, he knew his words had hit home. The woman's previous pensive expression broke in shock. She stood there for a moment, frozen as her brain caught up with Ranma's words.

Tears began to well up in here eyes, as she softly asked, "Ranma? Is that you?" He smiled instantly, nodding in acknowledgement. He was right, it was her.

Seeing his nod, Nodoka dashed out of the door, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her son was home! Eight years on the road, and he was very bit as manly and handsome as she had imagined! She embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh Ranma! I've missed you so much!" she choked out.

He was speechless. Not even once during his training trip had he ever felt such unconditional love and acceptance. He hugged his mother back, being more than happy to let this moment continue for as long as possible.

After a few minutes, they broke their embrace. Nodoka held her son at arms length, to get a clear look at him, and kept smiling brightly. "Oh my son, you've grown up just as I imagined!" She paused, looking around, "tell me, though... where is your father?"

Ranma's expression darkened slightly. "Can we go inside, mom?" he asked. "It's kinda a long story".

* * *

Once inside, Nodoka quickly fixed a cup of tea for her son. She handed the mug to him, before leading him into the living room. She smiled as he looked around the room with a nostalgic gaze. Sitting down, she spoke up. "Now, I believe you were going to tell me where your father is?" Ranma shook himself back to the present, and joined his mother at the table.

"Well," he started, taking a sip of tea, "it started when we got ta Tokyo. Pops was actin' all nervous, like he had somethin' planned, ya know?" Nodoka nodded her head. Genma had acted much the same the day before he took Ranma on their training trip.

"Well, once we were halfway across Nerima, he started spoutin' his normal crap about 'family honor' and my 'duty as his son', ya know, all those things he wants me to do, but never does himself." Once again, she nodded. Her husband was notorious for not practicing what he preached.

"Well, I finally got sick of him goin' on and on, so I asked him what this 'duty to the family' was." Ranma took a swig of the tea, before growling and continuing. "So the bastard just smirked at me, an' said that I had to marry some girl, and we were goin' to her place right now."

Nodoka closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She should have guessed he'd do this. "Was this 'girl' the daughter of a Tendo Soun, by any chance?" She asked him. Genma and his friend had always been a bit too excited offer the prospect of marrying their children and joining the schools, although she suspected her husband was more interested in living off revenue from the dojo, free of the financial restrictions she herself imposed on their own accounts.

At the same time though, she thought it funny that just a few short years ago, she would have found the idea of Ranma turning down a chance to marry a girl made him less manly, even if he was too young to even start noticing them. Gods, had she really been that out of touch? She sent a silent thanks to Ikuko and Saeko for breaking her from some of her more... extreme opinions on the matter.

"He said we were going to some 'Tendo dojo', so I guess so." He looked at her. "How did you know? Did you help arrange this, too?"

"No, my child." She responded. "He and Tendo planned it while they were still training together. Neither I nor Soun's wife were involved in the decision." She smirked as she took a sip from her cup. "Of course, I say 'decision' lightly. Nothing was ever made official."

Ranma, who had been angrily taking another gulp of tea, nearly choked on it. "Whaddya mean, 'nothing official'!"

"I mean, his wife and I managed to convince them that, since Soun had three daughters, and we only had you, nothing would be made certain until all parties involved were old enough to choose who wanted to marry." She scowled a bit. "However, I distinctly remember making the both of them promise to wait until you were at least Sixteen, and to only engage you if both you _and_ the girl agreed."

Ranma gritted his teeth in anger. "So you're telling me that all that stuff pops was going on about, tryin' ta pressure me in with 'family honor' and all that crap, was just a big lie! I don't believe it!" He shouted.

Nodoka gave him an amused look. Ranma sighed, calming down a bit. "Ok, fine. I'm not even a little surprised, and I should'a know from the start." He leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. "I still ain't marrying some dumb girl, though."

"I'm not asking you to, dear." She tried to calm him down more. "Now, once he dropped that revelation, what happened next?"

"Well," he said, scratch the base of his pigtail, "I kinda told him my mind, an' took off." Ranma described their short fight around the edge of the Furinkan neighborhood, his stealing Genma's wallet, and finding out about Nodoka's existence. She made some choice comments regarding her worthless husband when she found out he had neglected to even tell their son he had a mother.

He finished his tale by recounting his experience on the public trains. Nodoka couldn't help but giggle softly at his experience. Urban transportation was always bad, but he was greatly exaggerating the ordeal.

When he was through, she offered him another cup of tea. As she refilled their cups, she considered giving the Tendo dojo a call, just to let Genma know their son was safe. She quickly decided against it; her husband would likely demand Ranma come to the dojo the moment he learned of his location.

Besides, she hadn't known where Ranma was for eight years. Surely Genma could survive the same for a day or two.

Returning to the table, she gently prompted her son to tell her about the training trip. After all, she just had to know what he had been up to for the last few years.

He started from the beginning, giving her a general overview of events. Every so often she pressed him for more details on certain events. Sometimes he would oblige, but often, particularly in the earlier years, he would either say he couldn't remember or, more suspiciously, that she didn't want to know, and change the subject. She mentally cataloged these, intent on asking Genma about them when next she saw him.

* * *

After close to three hours, Ranma finally got to the days leading up to Jusenkyo. He was worried about how to tell his mother about the curse, so he decided to just come straight out with it, as part of the story.

"Ah, mom," he stopped his tale for a moment. "Do ya mind if I get some water before I continue?"

Nodoka studied him for a moment. He had been getting distinctly more uncomfortable, and gave the impression that he was stalling for time. She remembered the portents from a few weeks ago, about the time his story was going to cover, and nodded. "Of course, Ranma, the glasses are in the cabinet on the left".

He took a few more moments than needed to grab the water, and then continued.

"So, we got ta the valley in tha afternoon. Pops was all mad that it took us so long ta get there, so we didn't even stop for lunch. The guide showed us around a bit, sayin' how the pools were cursed, and nobody used tha place anymore." He stopped to grumble. "I guess that shoulda been my hint that pops didn't know what he was doin' again."

Nodoka was starting to get a bad feeling. So something did happen? She decided to wait and find out. At her look, he continued.

"So, when we got near the guide's place, me an' pops jumped up onto the poles. Our match want pretty quick, and pops was soon in one of the pools." Ranma sighed, "That's when everythin' went wrong."

He gave Nodoka a brief explanation of the curses and how they work. She was appropriately mortified. Before she could get a word in, though, he continued again.

"So pops came splashin' out of the pool, only, he wasn't pops anymore."

"What was he?" Nodoka asked with a feeling of morbid fascination. She had a feeling of where this was headed.

"A panda, real big one, too. Took me totally off-guard. By the time I had recovered, the old man had already kicked me into another pool."

Before she could ask him which pool it was, he grabbed the glass of water, and dumped it over his head.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Genma was furious.

The day had started out so well, too. He and the boy had gotten to the edge of Tokyo just after noon, and had headed directly towards he Tendo dojo. Not even the rain that had started when they got to Nerima could have ruined his mood.

But then, things went downhill. He had let the engagement slip to the boy, so he wouldn't be caught with his pants down when hey got there. Instead of thanking him, like a respectful son should, the worthless child had the nerve to run off like a girl!

When he got to the dojo early in the afternoon and explained the situation, Soun and his daughters had helped him comb the ward for how wayward child.

Now, with the daylight almost completely gone, they were returning to the dojo empty-handed.

Wiping water out of his fur from a sprinkler down the street, he and Soun entered the compound. They heard the sound of the Tendo girls eating dinner and sighed. They had been worse that worthless in the search.

Nabiki had been the first to leave. Not ten minutes into the search, she had demanded a 5000 yen hourly wage for her assistance. Upon finding out the boy had taken his wallet, she left without a word.

Next was Kasumi. Forty minutes after Nabiki, she excused herself to go prepare supper. She promised to make enough for Genma and Ranma before she left for the market.

Akane left a few minutes later. Having no interest in having a male housemate her age, especially a freak, she didn't even bother to give an excuse. She just stormed off.

Grabbing a kettle Kasumi had so nicely warmed up for him, he joined the Tendos at the table. The moment the two adults entered the room, an uncomfortable silence fell over the table, as the three girls thought about possible excuses to leave.

Kasumi was the first to manage. Smiling politely, she stood up and said, "I'm sorry, father, but can you and our guest handle the dishes? It's a bit late, and the three of us have homework to finish before we go to bed."

Nodding in agreement, the other two girls brought their dishes to the sink, and hurried upstairs, thankful for the distraction. The sooner they could get away from the plotting fathers, the better.

* * *

Having finished their meal in silence, and cleaned up the dishes, Genma and Soun began a shogi game. Nothing like casual cheating to calm the mind, after all.

After a few minutes, Genma spoke up. "You know Tendo, I've been thinking. I think I know where we can find the boy."

Soun looked up at him. When they had failed to find Ranma, he had begun to lose hope. Could it be that, in this dark time, his old friend held the answer to his prayers?

"Y-you do...?" He asked, somewhat awed by his sparring partner.

"Indeed. Now, I always kept a card of addresses in my wallet. If the boy did take it when he abandoned his duty to the family, he may have come across the card."

"What addresses were on it?" Soun asked.

"The majority were to various temples and dojos we visited during the trip. Places that offered to let us return and train if we were in the area." He responded.

"A few more were places that lent us supplies" 'Unknowingly, and by night, of course' he added mentally. "Your home was also on the card, though the boy will probably stay away from here. The name Tendo came up before he ran off."

"In the morning, I'll see if I can contact some of these dojos. If the boy went to any of them, we'll know."

Soun was shocked. His friend was being... _responsible!_ Oh happy day! The engagements would be safe after all!

Genma thought for a moment, and then frowned. "I just hope that he doesn't go to _that_ address. Not before his curse is cured, anyways."

His friend gave him a questioning look. "The first address in the list is my own" Genma explained. "Certain... ah, _agreements_ have made it so that, so long as he is cursed, his mother will never accept the boy, no matter what."

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Nodoka stared in shock at the change her child had undergone. The moment the water had contacted his head; he shrank and softened into a near-splitting image of herself at thirteen.

The female Ranma was a few inches shorter than before. Her features were soft, and her body showed the beginnings of what would become attractive curves, once she left puberty. Her hair and eyes remained their black and blue, respectively, although her complexion made the blue much more striking.

The mother's mind was at war as for how to react. One voice immediately called for her to evoke the contract; how could her son be a man amongst men as a girl! Another, newer voice called for her to destroy the contract and love her child unconditionally. A third tried to compromise; support Ranma, but hunt her husband down, for he was obviously the one at fault. A fourth claimed that more time was needed, and that she should faint until consensus could be reached.

Ranma warily eyed her mother. The moment she had demonstrated her curse, Nodoka had shut down. She didn't blame her mother, of course. Nobody could reasonably be prepared for a situation like this.

After more than a minute, Ranma began waving a hand in front of her mother's face, trying to return her to the world of the living. The older woman blinked once, and shook herself back into focus.

"Mom? Are you alright?" Ranma asked.

"I'm sorry..." Nodoka said shakily "You just took me by surprise, that's all." She plastered on a weak smile. "Please, continue."

As her... child continued her story, Nodoka had a hard time listening. Understanding this was beyond her. As glad as she was to have her child back, could she handle the curse? At this point, she couldn't decide if Ranma passed the contract.

Help, she needed to consult someone. Ikuko would still be out of town. A shame; she would be ideal for helping with a problem like this. Uncle Hino could probably help, too, but the Hikawa shrine was rather far away for this hour.

Saeko would be... wait.. SAEKO! She didn't have work for once, and she may just be the perfect person to help. Clinging to the idea, she saw that Ranma had finished her story, and was starring at her, as if awaiting judgment.

"Well, it seems that you've had quite the adventure, my child." She said as cheerily as she could. "Oh! Would you look at the time! It's nearly time for dinner!"

Ranma perked up at the mention of a meal. 'Just like.. her.. father.' Nodoka though wryly. "I'm sorry, but I'll need to step out for some groceries if we want a proper meal." Ranma looked at her suspiciously, but accepted the answer.

Nodoka slipped out the door, still holding the honor blade and wearing a Kimono. She hurried down the steer towards her friend's house, anxiously fingering a folded piece of paper in her pocket.

(A/N: Mizuno Saeko, Nodoka's friend, is the name of Mizuno Ami's mother from the Sailor Moon Live-action, the only place her name has ever been given.)


	3. Chapter Two: Settling in

April 25, 1993 - Minato, Tokyo

Mizuno Saeko was setting dinner on the table when the doorbell rang. She grumbled to herself as she went to answer the door. For the first time in weeks, she had a chance to spend time with her daughter! What could be so important as to interrupt that?

She peered through the eyehole. It was a woman. Black hair, a kimono, holding a sword...

Wait, a sword? Only one person she knew carried a sword around.

She opened the door slightly. Peering through the breach, she asked, "Nodoka-chan?"

The woman on the other side of the door nodded. She looked worried, and more than a little stressed. 'I wonder what's eating at her.' Saeko though as she opened the door fully and ushered her friend in.

"Ami and I were about to sit down to eat," She said. "Would you like to join us?"

Nodoka shook her head sadly. "No thank you, Saeko. I'm not going to be here too long".

Nodding, Saeko lead Nodoka into the living room. Nodoka took a seat and was quiet for a moment.

"My son returned home today." She finally said.

Saeko blinked. Nodoka had said that her family was supposed to return soon, but she hadn't quite been able to believe that. Not that she'd ever say it to Nodoka, but she had always though her friend's deadbeat husband had used the training trip as an excuse to run off with their child. That they returned told her that she had misjudged Genma severely.

"Only my son."

Saeko's thought process ground to a halt. Did that mean Genma had...?

Seeing the look on her face, Nodoka shook her head. "No, my husband still lives, for good or ill. Genma had planned to take Ranma to a friend's house and force him to marry one of his daughters. They had a fight, and Ranma ran away from him."

Saeko shook her head. _That_ was more classic Genma.

She decided to state her own opinion before Nodoka continued. "So, if your son is home, but you needed to see me, I assume your husband didn't bring him up to be the 'man among men' that he promised?"

Nodoka hung her head and nodded. "Why don't you tell me about him?" Saeko asked. Hopefully, she could help her friend.

* * *

Nodoka finished her explanation of Ranma's condition, and her conflicted feelings on it. Saeko sat there for a moment, considering the situation. In all honestly, had she not seen what Nodoka and her husband were capable of before, she didn't think she would have believed the woman. Gender-changing curses? Oh how she wished the world was as simple as medical school had taught her.

"So, your problem is with the curse, but not with Ranma himself, right?" Nodoka nodded. "Well, I don't see what the problem is, then."

At the other woman's look, she explained. "Beyond the curse, everything about him meets your expectations, correct?"

"More than meets them! Every other inch of him is a man!" Nodoka shot out without hesitation.

"Well, from what you've seen so far, but let's not get into that yet." Saeko responded. It was good that Nodoka was so willing to defend her son despite her reservations regarding the curse.

"From what you've told me, the curse was not his fault. If, as you say, 'every other inch of him is a man', then what is there to worry about? It sounds like he's more than met your husband's idiot contract, so why would his curse prove to be a problem?"

Nodoka continued to fret. "But what if his curse makes him act like a woman while under it? How can I call him a man then?"

Saeko squeezed her temple, trying to figure out how to get Nodoka to see reason. "So, the curse affects him mentally, then?"

"Well, I haven't seen him enough in either form to tell, but..."

She was interrupted. "So you don't know." Saeko starred her down for a moment. "Did you think to ask him about that? I'm sure many of your fears could have been put to rest if you had."

Nodoka starred at the floor, not knowing how to respond to that. "I really am overreacting, aren't I?"

Saeko nodded. "You still have certain expectations as to what it is to be manly that society would consider... excessive." 'And criminal, in some cases.' She added, mentally.

"You told me before that you agreed to your husband's contract to keep him in line, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Nodoka confirmed. "I knew that Genma would destroy our child if left to his own devices, so I needed something insure he would raise Ranma properly." She paused for a moment. "I guess Genma knew I wouldn't let him go without such measures, otherwise he would never have proposed the idea."

"However, that doesn't change the fact that I will evoke the contract if need be. I hope it won't come to that, but it is a matter of honor."

"Then pass him." Saeko said. "I know how much you don't want to have to evoke the contract, and from the sound of it, he is a man in every way that counts."

She was pleased to note that Nodoka was starting to look much better. After a few moments of contemplation, the Saotome woman seemed to come to a decision, and nodded to herself.

"Thank you, Saeko-chan." She said, smiling for the first time since she had arrived.

"Don't thank me yet, Nodoka." Saeko switched to a more serious tone. "We've still got a _lot_ to talk about".

* * *

Saeko leaned against the door and slid to the floor. As much as she may dearly love her friend, Nodoka could be extremely stressful to work with.

Still, despite the other woman's fears, and her warped opinions, she had managed to make great progress today.

It had not been easy to convince Nodoka that she shouldn't push her expectations on her poor son, but the Saotome woman had at least been willing to try, once Saeko had requested it from a professional perspective.

She got up and walked towards the kitchen. It had been close to two hours since Nodoka arrived, and dinner must be stone cold now. She felt a pang of guilt that she had once again neglected her daughter for another matter.

When she entered the room, she was surprised to see Ami putting food onto plates.

Her daughter turned around as she entered, and gave a shy smile. "I heard Saotome-san leaving." She said as she brought the food over to the table. "Shall we eat, mom?"

Saeko smiled in return. Maybe the night wasn't going to be too bad after all.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

For the first time in eight years, the kitchen of the Saotome home was occupied by someone other than the mother of the house.

Ranma, still in girl form, had begun to make dinner soon after her mother had left. She had known that her mother didn't need to do any shopping even before she had checked the refrigerator; the forced smile on her face had told her that.

She sighed as she cooked the stir-fry. Her mother had been in obvious distress when she left the house. The young girl assumed that she needed time to think; after all, it wasn't often that you find out that your child can spontaneously change genders.

Still, she had hoped that her mother would have immediately accepted the curse.

'Well, it could have been worse' she thought. 'Mom could have thrown me out, or made me commit seppuku.' She shuddered; that wasn't a pleasant thought. At least her mother seemed saner than that.

She turned off the stove as the food neared completion. She hoped her mother would be home soon.

* * *

Nodoka was lost in thought as she turned onto her street. She was constantly replaying the conversation with her friend over and over. Saeko had kept her there for more than an hour, listening to, and lecturing her about Ranma.

It was only now that the depth of Ranma's condition was beginning to hit her. She had known immediately that Ranma wouldn't be able to live up to her already unreasonable expectations, but Saeko had really hammered in the knowledge that holding her child to those expectations would only serve to destroy him.

In their conversation, Saeko had been unyielding about how Nodoka should treat her son, and had made her promise so much.

Could she really follow all of that advice? Could she really keep all of those promises? She didn't know if she could.

Yet, she couldn't afford not to.

There was only on thing she knew for certain.

'Genma,' She thought bitterly, 'This is all your fault'.

She opened the gate to the Saotome compound, and was struck by a barrage of inviting aromas. Entering the house, she smiled at the soprano humming coming from kitchen.

"I wasn't sure how long you were gonna be out." Ranma said without turning around. "I hope you don't mind that I whipped up some food."

Nodoka walked up behind her currently-daughter and appraised the meal. Everything looked well cooked, although Ranma's skills of cooking with a stove seemed rusty. "There's no problem, dear" She said, before taking on a mock-chiding tone. "I just hope you washed the vegetables first."

Ranma snickered as she transferred the food to their plates. "Of course I did!" she responded in an equally mock-indignant voice. "It ain't smart not ta when yer cookin' in the woods, so why not here?"

She went to the sink and washed her hands in hot water. She flicked a small amount onto her head as she finished, before he dried off his hands.

Nodoka and her son sat down to eat their first meal as a family in close to a decade. It was everything either of them had hoped it would be.

* * *

Following dinner, the two Saotomes washed their plates side by side. They had spent the duration of dinner familiarizing themselves with each other, and bore wide smiles as a result.

As he finished with the plate, Ranma let out a loud yawn. Nodoka gave her son a humored look. "Tired out from all the bonding, my child?" Ranma nodded, absently, then, realizing what she had said, tried to defend himself. He stopped when his mother broke down, laughing.

"Ranma, my son, your buttons are too easy to press." His face colored slightly. He hadn't been able to tell she was teasing him.

He grumbled light-heartedly. "Yeah yeah, Pops was always pushin' em when we fought." He yawned again. "Now, could ya show me where tha' furo is? I'd like a soak before bed".

Nodoka brought him to the bathroom, and gave him some bathing supplies. While he was cleaning up, she went upstairs to put his room together.

The room she allotted to him was medium sized. It had a single window looking over the koi pond on the back wall, and a closet on the wall to the right of the door. Like Nodoka's own room, this one was traditionally styled, with rice-paper walls and tatami mats.

She set a futon in the corner, and put his bag next to the window. She had intentionally left the room empty so Ranma could decorate it as he wished once he returned.

She went back downstairs and made a new pot of tea. By the time it was finished, she heard her son leaving the bathroom, and poured him a cup. She called him down and handed the tea to him.

They stood there in the kitchen, drinking in silence for a while, before Nodoka decided to break it. "I'm really proud of you, Ranma." She said in a quite voice as she nursed the teacup.

"Mom...?" Ranma looked at her. He was happy, but wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"Ever since your father took you, I have spent every night worrying that I made a mistake, that I should had kept you here".

'That I shouldn't have agreed to that damned contract.' she added, mentally.

"While I'm sure your father has done some less-than-honorable things to train you," Ranma was about to interject, but Nodoka stopped him. "And don't think I can be fooled by omitting portions of your story. There were more than a few times you tried to change the topic when I asked for details. I wasn't born yesterday, you know." She admonished.

Ranma suddenly found the opposing wall a highly engaging sight.

"I can still see that you have become a strong, honorable man, regardless of your curse." She smiled at him. "I hope that now you are home, you can take the chance to grow into the person that _you_ want to be."

With that, she put down her cup and enveloped him in a hug. After a moment, she broke apart from him, giggling slightly at his embarrassed expression. "Oh dear." she said, "I suppose your father slacked a bit on your social skills." The sky rumbled at the sheer understatement of her comment. "We can help with that."

Ranma, still slightly flushed, finished his tea, and placed the cup in the sink. "I'm gonna go to bed." He announced. Nodoka told him where to find his room.

As he walked up the stairs, he turned to her. "Thank you" he said. "Thank you for everythin'." He smiled at her. "I love you, mom." with that, he walked up the stairs and out of sight.

Once she heard his door close, Nodoka pulled out the Seppuku contract. Grabbed up the honor blade and tossed the document into the air. Confetti showered he room as she slashed it to pieces. She gathered it up and disposed of it, smiling all the while.

'You pass, my son.' She thought.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Ranma's sleep was not calm that night. Not that it had been since Jusenkyo, anyway. Gaining a transgendering curse is in no way helpful to the mental stability of a 12-year old boy.

Logically speaking, the boy should have slept better, now that he had been reunited with his accepting mother. However, Nodoka's face as she rushed out to get advice from Saeko kept featuring itself in his dreams, attacking his both deep-seated and freshly-laid insecurities.

He awoke early in the morning with a start, out of breath and sweating profusely. Deciding he needed to calm down, Ranma got out of the futon and got dressed.

Downstairs, Nodoka was preparing breakfast. Any reservations she may have had regarding her son had evaporated after sleeping on them. It was funny, really, how easy she had found it to give Ranma an unconditional pass on the contract; she had never been entirely comfortable about it, being another of her husband's stupid ideas. That she had been given a honorable way out of _that_ particularly uncomfortable position was all the better.

Even though she had passed him on it, she had no intention of bringing the topic up. Ranma had made no indication that he was ever told about the contract, something that didn't surprise her in the least. Genma had probably never intended to honor the contract once it had been made. Nodoka smirked as she contemplated making her husband commit seppuku anyways, for his obvious breach of the contract.

She shelved those thoughts when her son entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, Ranma!" She greeted him, sparing a moment to look away from the stove. "Breakfast will be ready in a moment. Could you set the table, please?"

He nodded, and went about the task. Nodoka finished with the stove and went to preparing the plates of food. She was in a fantastic mood; nothing, not even those frequent days she made meals for her niece and nephew, could compare to the joy of cooking for her family again.

As she picked up the plates, she heard a splash and a string of curses from the next room. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

She suppressed a giggle at the sight of her now-female child angrily wiping water off the front of her shirt, ignoring the overturned glass of water dripping in the floor.

She cleared her throat and spoke. "Ranma, dear, please sit down and eat." With a sigh, her daughter sat down and reached for her steaming cup of tea.

Acting on a whim, Nodoka pulled the cup away from the girl. At Ranma's confused glance, she explained. "You don't have to turn back for me, dear. You're still my child." She gave the girl a reassuring smile.

Ranma nodded blankly, and started eating. 'I still don't like the curse' she though, 'but at least mom seems to accept it now.' She thought back to her dreams from the night before, glad they hadn't come true.

"This food's good!" Ranma said excitedly, digging in with her usual vigor. Nodoka didn't know whether to laugh at her obvious enjoyment of such a simple meal, or chide the girl for her eating habits.

'Not that she'd have any others growing up with Genma' she thought. "I'm glad you're enjoying it." Nodoka decided to say. Rather than laugh or chide, she decided to give a light chuckle and a smile.

"Once you're done dear, would you like to join me in the dojo?" Ranma looked up from her mostly-empty plate and nodded, before continuing to vacuum up the meal. Nodoka shook her head and finished off her own, much smaller, breakfast.

* * *

Ever since the men had left on the trip, Nodoka had been building up the house. Using both her family allowance, and money she earned with her sword services, she had slowly transformed the single-story, five-room house Genma knew into the multi-story traditional complex it was today. Each and every addition to the house had been built to the highest standards.

As such, it was no surprise that the Saotome dojo was nothing to scoff at. While it was not scaled for teaching large classes, it was more than big enough for four or five to practice comfortably.

Currently, only two people occupied the training hall. Ranma, now male and dressed in his standard silk shirt and black pants, stood near the center of the room. Nodoka, dressed in a dark-grey tee and black spandex shorts, sat a ways away, her Nodachi next to her.

"Now son," she began, "I would like to start by assessing your skills. Please run though a few katas."

Ranma nodded, and launched into a simple warm-up routine. He noticed that his mother was paying close attention to every movement he made. Without even a pause, he started a new, more complex kata the moment he finished the warmup.

He continued in a pattern like this; he would launch into a form, see if his mother could follow his movements, and try a harder and faster one when he saw she could. After twenty minutes, he was running thought his most complex kata at the fastest speed he could, and Nodoka was still able to watch him.

Finishing the last move, he panted for a moment, before turning to his mother and bowing.

Nodoka gave him a thoughtful look. "I see that your father has taught you well." She mentally added, 'At least he did something right.' She stood up, grabbing her sword. "Tell me, my son, how much did your father teach you with a blade?"

"Only the basics" He responded. "Pops was never big on weapons, though he did insist on showin' me how to most of 'em." He though for a moment. "An' some of tha temples we stayed at did teach me some higher-lever staff-fightin'."

Nodoka nodded, and set her sword down in the corner. "I see." She walked a few steps closer to Ranma, and took a light stance. "Come, my child. I wish to test your skills."

Ranma took his own stance, and was immediately set-upon by his mother. She opened with a palm-strike that just barely missed his face. Without time to contemplate if fighting his mother was a good idea or not, he sent a jab at her exposed armpit.

Nodoka caught the strike with her free hand, and twisted it down, exposing the boy's back to the sky. Her other hand came down for a neck chop, but missed when Ranma kicked forward, spinning his legs up onto his mother's shoulders and leaping away.

The force of the jump knocked the woman to the floor, but she recovered almost instantly. The two Saotomes turned to face each other, confident smirks plastered across both their faces. With a nod of mutual respect, they launched at each over again.

Ranma opened this time, launching a high kick at Nodoka's head. He left a rather glaring opening in his guard, trying to draw her in. To his glee, she took the bait. She grabbed his ankle as it passed her face, and wrapped it over her shoulder to throw.

He threw a punch at the back of her head, but to his surprise, she grabbed his wrist and slammed him into the floor. Groaning, he rolled over and got up.

They continued like this for another fifteen minutes. Every time Ranma felt he had the upper hand, his mother would use her superior speed and agility to wrap around his guard. It frustrated him greatly, being beaten by his own specialty.

Their fight finished when Nodoka grabbed one of Ranma's strikes, and used his momentum to send the boy spinning thought the air. He landed in a crumpled heap in the corner of the dojo, trying to stifle a groan of pain.

His mother waited calmly for her son to gather himself up, before addressing him. "You fought well, my son." she gazed at him in amusement as he poked a large bruise on his shoulder. "Your speed and strength are exceptional for your age, and your technique is similarly impressive."

"But I lost." He pouted a bit.

'That look would work so much better on his other form.' She couldn't help but think.

"You are also still a child, my son. Your physical abilities have yet to develop in full." Ranma's face took on a considerate look.

'I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. I mean, how many times before Jusenkyo could I beat up pops? I only got 'im yesterday 'cause he's so slow as a panda!'

While he was thinking, Nodoka stepped out to get them drinks. After filling two glasses with water, she got an idea, and rushed up to her room.

A few minutes later, she returned to the dojo, carrying a tray of water. She handed one of the glasses to her son, and took the other for herself.

"So," she began, casually sipping the water, "do you feel up to another round?"

"Sure thing!" Ranma said, excitedly. He was still itching for a rematch.

"There will be one change, though." Nodoka said seriously. "I want to see how well you fight in your female form."

Ranma began to protest, but his mother stopped him. "There is a very good chance that, at some point, you will need to fight in that form. If you don't train in it beforehand, you may well find yourself at a significant disadvantage."

Nodding solemnly, "I see tha' wisdom in that, but I still don't like it."

"I didn't expect you to." She splashed some of her water onto his head. The smaller girl sighed, and finished her water. As she backed up a bit, she noticed her mother examining her closely.

Slightly uncomfortable with the attention, she nervously asked, "Is somethin' wrong, mom?"

Nodoka shook her head. "No dear, I was just making sure you wouldn't be uncomfortable during our next spar." At Ranma's confused glance, she pointed to her own chest and added, "You're not quite 'developed' enough to have to worry about that yet."

She grinned ear-to-ear as her daughter realized what she meant, and immediately turned fire-engine red.

The younger Saotome, still flushed, launched at her mother the moment the woman took a stance.

* * *

Once again, Nodoka had come out the victor of the match. She had to admit, though, that Ranma had given her more trouble this time around. As it turned out, her female form had an edge in speed and agility over her male form, although not by much. She suspected that Ranma was stronger and more durable as a boy in exchange.

At the moment, said girl was picking herself up off the floor, having been victim to a particularly nasty body-throw. For losing the match, Ranma was in a rather good mood. She had always known that her father was a good martial artist, but she never expected her mother would be, too.

While Nodoka may not be quite up to Genma's skill level in hand-to-hand, she was more that proficient. What was more, Ranma suspected that her mother would probably be at the very least a match for the panda when armed with her sword.

Seeing that her mother wanted to speak to her, Ranma sat down a little ways from the center of the room. Nodoka sat before her, and began her lecture.

"Now Ranma, how much did your father teach you about ki and it's usage?"

"He taught me tha' basics of usin' it ta power-up my body, so I can jump up roofs, and take landings without messing up my knees. I learned more 'bout it at temples, ya know, faster healin', and less wasteful ways to power-up."

"I see." Nodoka responded. Looks like Genma skimped a bit on the Ki manipulation. With the reserves she could feel, Ranma should be at least twice as fast as she currently was. "Tell me, how much were you reinforcing your body during our matches?"

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, having never hear the word used in this context.

"'Powering up', as you put it." Nodoka explained.

"Oh. Ahh…, I was goin' at about my best, I guess." She scratched the base of her pigtail. "Pops never really taught me that well. It was mostly monks and stuff, or figure it out myself."

"Hmmm..." She thought about the situation for a moment. 'As good a fighter as the man is, I suppose Genma can't be expected to be a masterful teacher of the more esoteric areas of the Art. At least he had the sense to bring Ranma to places better suited for such teaching.'

"Ranma, for the next..." she glanced at the clock on the wall. Just after nine-thirty AM. "...hour, I'm going to run you through my own style of Ki exercises." The younger girl was visibly excited by the news. "I'm not quite sure what your exact level is, so I'm going to start you from the beginning, just to make sure Genma didn't miss anything in the basics."

At her falling face, Nodoka added, "If you've already covered something, we'll move past it as fast as we can, alright, sweetie?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Let us begin, then." The Saotome females stood up, and Ranma began her first lesson from her mother.

* * *

After an hour, Nodoka was more than impressed by her currently-daughter's learning curve. While she had already known quite a bit about the internal use of Ki, she had picked up on new concepts with frightening speed. By the time the hour was up, she had already corrected the flaws in her basic techniques, and was able to boost herself almost half-again more than she had been during the opening sparring match.

At her current rate, Nodoka would be ready to start instructing her child in the family sword-school before Golden Week was over.

"Alright, Ranma, that's enough for now!" She called out. Ranma relaxed from her meditative stance and grabbed a drink.

The two women cleaned up the dojo, returned to the main house. At the bottom of the stairs, Nodoka stopped her.

"Ranma, please get cleaned up. We're going out soon."

"Where to, mom?" she asked.

"Well," Nodoka started, holding up a few fingers as counters. "First, we need to get you some new clothes. Everything you've been wearing has been rather thread-bare." she dropped a finger. "Second, we need to pick out some furniture for your room." she dropped the second finger. "Third, you have an appointment at the hospital in an hour."

"What?" Ranma asked. "Why do I gotta go there? It's not like I'm sick or nothin'!"

"I'm familiarizing you with the facility and staff there. Goodness knows you'll probably be a frequent visitor there." Ranma rolled her eyes. "The doctor we're meeting is a good friend of mine, and requested I have get a check-up in both forms as soon as possible."

Ranma visibly paled. "S-she knows?"

Her mother nodded. "I told her when we arranged this last night." She averted her eyes for a moment, shamed at the reason she had been able to arrange the appointment.

"I don't know..."

"Please, Ranma? For me? I just want to make sure your father kept you in good health."

Ranma caved at her mother's expression. "Alright, fine. I'll go." She trudged up the stairs for a bath and a gender change.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Nerima, Tokyo

"I see. Thank you for your time."

Genma hung up the phone, and let out a long-held sigh. Over the past two hours, he had contacted every temple and shrine from the trip he could remember, but not a single person had seen his wayward offspring.

Muttering about ungrateful children, he returned to the shogi board, where Soun was seated.

"Any luck, Saotome?" He said seriously.

"The boy has not been seen." Genma responded, making a move on the board. "There are a few more shrines I can check, but I can't contact them directly."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you see..." he rubbed the back of his head, "We didn't leave all of the places on the best of terms. Some of them may accept that lousy whelp, but if show my face, there may be a bit of misunderstanding."

Soun snorted. Saotome hadn't changed a bit since the days of the Master.

"Many of these shrines are in the area" he continued. "Once we finish our match, I will leave to visit some of them. If the boy is at any of them, I should be able to make him return without being seen." He paused for a moment, distracted. Soun used this time to swap a few pieces on the board in his favor.

"There is once shrine that isn't safe for me to visit, though, even from a distance."

"What shrine would this be?" Soun asked, curiously. If Genma was unwilling to even stake it out, the master of the shrine must be formidable indeed.

"It's the Hikawa shrine in Minami-Azabu. Frequently visited by my wife, and run by her uncle." His face took on a serious look. "My wife has a superhuman ability for finding me when I'm trying to avoid her. If she encounters me without a fully male Ranma at my side," He grabbed a microphone and took a dramatic pose, "our lives are forfeit!"

A large sweat-drop made it's way down Soun's head. Genma could be rather... overdramatic at times.

The Saotome pointed at his Tendo counterpart. "It's decided! _You_ will go to Minato in my stead, and seek out the boy at the shrine. You must hurry, though; if my wife finds the boy before you, he will not live to marry a Tendo!"

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Minato, Tokyo

Once again, Ranma found herself wet. She fumed as she wrung out her silk shirt. Why did water always have to target her? Was staying dry for a few minutes too much to ask?

Nodoka, on the other hand, was snickering at her daughter's misfortune. In the last twenty minutes, Ranma had been splashed by the most random of things at least seven times.

"I swear," Ranma groused, "This damn curse makes me into a water magnet! How they hell else can I get splashed so much?"

She thought about her child's words for a moment. "You do have a point, Ranma. Water does seem to seek you out." 'I wonder if it's part of her curse, or not...' "Does your father ever have the same issue?"

She thought for a moment. "Maybe? He get splashed when I do, but tha' only times I've him get splashed alone is by hot water when he's a panda."

"I see. Does your father spend a lot of time as a panda?"

"Yeah, pops always makes me change back, but never really cares himself." She scowled. "I guess the lazy bastard-"

"Ranma! Language!" Nodoka admonished.

"Sorry, I guess pops never really notices the difference." She huffed. "Not that I care, though. He's quieter and easier ta' beat up as a panda."

Nodoka stifled a giggle. She didn't care how manly she hoped her child to be right now; girl-Ranma was just so _cute_ when she was pouting.

At her daughter's glare, she coughed and came back on topic. "I'm sorry, Ranma, I have a few friends that might know more about the water magnetism. I'll ask them when we get home, ok?"

Ranma smiled and nodded at her. She wouldn't mind the curse as much if she didn't have to be wet so often.

They rounded the corner, and walked towards a large white building. "We're here." Nodoka said. Ranma looked up at the hospital before them. She hadn't been to one since she was eight.

'I still don't think I need to be here.' she thought. 'I'm perfectly healthy, even in this form.' She felt her mother tug her arm, and followed her into the building.

* * *

A few floors up, Dr. Mizuno Saeko was preparing an examination room. After the conversation with Nodoka, she had insisted that the woman bring Ranma in for a full examination of both of his/her forms. Knowing exactly how the child's curse affected him/her could tell them just what the younger Saotome should expect to experience.

The fact that it provided her with a chance to study such a unique condition was just a small bonus.

The phone on the wall rang. She hurried over and picked it up. "Yes, Mizuno here." She answered to the phone.

"Dr. Mizuno, 'Saotome Ranma' is here for her 11:30 checkup." The receptionist informed her.

"Alright, send them up. I'm almost ready for them."

"Alright." The receptionist hung up.

Saeko hurriedly finished the examination room. 'And here I wasn't expecting them for another ten minutes at least.' She made sure there was a full box of latex gloves, and gathered her charts into order.

She sat down at the desk in the corner, but didn't need to wait. Not a minute later, she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" she invited as she stood up. The door opened, and Nodoka entered, dressed causally in contrast to the previous night, followed by a girl that left Saeko's jaw hanging.

The black haired girl following her felt like a ghost of the past. She looked unsettlingly like Nodoka had when they first met in junior high school. There was absolutely no mistaking that she was related to the older woman.

Saeko composed herself. "You must be Ranma." She said, walking up to the girl. She offered her a hand. "My name is Mizuno Saeko."

Ranma shook the doctor's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mizuno-sensei."

She smiled. "It's good to meet you again, Ranma-kun." she took on a mischievous look. "I'm glad to see that Nodoka's little boy has grown up to be such a nice young woman."

Ranma glared daggers at her. Nodoka broke out laughing.

"I'm just teasing you, Ranma-kun." She reassured the glaring girl. She gave Nodoka a look that asked, 'Is she always this cute when she's angry?' Nodoka gave a confirming nod.

"Now," She got down to business, "We need to update some of your medical records. According to my files, you have no confirmed medical checkups since you were four."

"That sounds 'bout right" Ranma shrugged. "Pops always avoided doctors and stuff when we could. He only took me to the hospital once or twice when things were serious."

Nodoka narrowed her eyes. "This is the first I've heard of this." She said, her voice cool.

Ranma looked at the floor. "I, ah, didn't think it was important."

Nodoka kept her eyes on the girl.

Saeko, seeing her patient's obvious distress, came to the rescue. "If that's the case, I'll have to ask you some questions." She pulled out a checklist. "Now Ranma-kun, some of these questions can be a bit personal, but I want you to answer them all as truthfully as you can. Ok?"

Ranma nodded. "Alright, let's begin."

* * *

The questions, Ranma later decided, were probably the least humiliating part of the exams. Dr. Mizuno had spent five minutes asking him general health yes or no questions, before moving on to the exam proper.

Since he had been a girl when they arrived, the doctor ran him though the female exams first. He shuddered at the memory; there are things man was not meant to know, and he felt that he had experienced all of them personally in the last two hours.

Once the less-favorable exams were finished, he splashed himself male and repeated the process. While slightly uncomfortable, the second battery made him glad that he was not permanently female.

Alas, his humiliation was far from finished, for after the tests were done, Saeko pulled out the health class charts.

He spent the majority of this presentation alternating between being pale as a ghost, and red as a tomato. The only times that his coloration varied was when he was pale green, or when he had fainted.

And when just when she had finished, and the boy thought he would be ok, she just _had_ to tell him that his female body was fully-functional, and that he would be experiencing the girls half of the presentation, without a doubt.

Saeko couldn't help but roll her eyes when he fainted again. How could a child of Saotome Nodoka, of all people, be so squeamish?

Sighing, she carried the unconscious boy out to the lounge, where Nodoka was reading a novel. Funny, Nodoka never struck her as a Sci-fi type.

When she saw her friend, Nodoka put down her book and gathered the child up from Saeko. The woman looked quite distraught, but Dr. Mizuno gave her reassurance.

"Ranma-kun is fine, Nodoka-chan. He just had a slight... overreaction to some of my educational materials."

She clearly understood what that meant. Sex Ed. could be traumatic enough when you only need to learn one side of the story.

"So, Nodoka-chan," Saeko asked, "What are your plans for the rest of he day?"

"Well, once Ranma wakes up, I was going to take him shopping. He arrived with very few clothes, none of which are for his other form, and we need to buy him furnishings for his room."

"When do you plan on introducing him to Ikuko-san?"

"Well, I was planning on introducing them tomorrow. I always have dinner with the Tsukinos on Ranma's birthday..." She broke into a wide smile. "That's right! It's his birthday tomorrow! Oh, how I've wished I could see him grow a year older for so long!"

Nodoka quickly broke down into incoherent planning for the following day. Saeko began giggling when she went off into a tangent about presents for the child.

It was at this point that the child in question began to stir. Nodoka broke from her party planning to attend to her currently-male offspring.

"How was your nap, my son?" She smirked at him, hiding her excitement.

The groggy boy flushed as memories of the last few hours came to the forefront of his mind. He grumbled at his mother's teasing.

Saeko cleared her throat in loud, attention-grabbing manner. "Mr. Saotome," she said, sliding into a mock-professional tone than left Nodoka snickering, "from my examinations of you, I can clearly report that you are a perfectly healthy young boy, and a perfectly healthy young girl." She added a dramatic pause." Well, aside from being both, anyways."

"T-that's great to hear…" Ranma said weakly.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes, and agreeing to come over for dinner next time Saeko was off for the night, the Saotomes made their way to the shopping district. Ranma immediately took to a fence, for a better vantage point in his eternal vigil against his dreaded watery foe.

Nodoka debated making him come down, but decided against it. He was still young enough that most people wouldn't complain about him climbing over everything, and he did seem to always get splashed when he was on the ground.

"Ranma," she began, grabbing his attention. "Would you rather we started with the clothes shopping, or the furniture?"

"Furniture." He said without hesitation, still warily eyeing the area for water.

She was about to attempt to draw a longer answer out of him, when he suddenly jumped up. The space he had previously occupied was sprayed by a torrent of water. Glancing to the side, she saw that a pipe on a nearby building had broken.

As Ranma hit the apex of his jump, the water pressure suddenly increased, extending the flow to now encompass the poor boy's projected landing zone. He flailed around in midair for a few moments before managing to adjust his landing slightly.

Not willing to wait and put his masculinity in further jeopardy, he dashed into the middle of the sidewalk, avoiding a falling fire-bucket in the process. He slid to a halt just short of an outdoor restaurant, where a waitress had just tripped, spilling her tray of drinks right where he would have been.

A car rushed by, sending a wave of rainwater from a puddle into the sidewalk, drenching the poor waitress, but failing to hit it's intended mark.

Nodoka looked on at all of this in amusement. While he had been doing this avoidance act, she had quietly made her way to the mall's entrance. She held the door open, and Ranma, seeing his chance to escape the liquid minefield that was the street, dashed inside.

"Haha!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. "Ain't no water gonna splash ME for the rest of the day!"

Murphy's law being what it was, it was just after he finished this line that a single sprinkler, the one right above his head, as it happened, managed to give out, dumping it's load of stagnant water over his head, ruining is clothes and mood.

"I guess we're doing the clothes shopping first after all." Nodoka remarked with a sigh.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

"Try this one on, dear." Nodoka said as she handed her once-more male child a red shirt. The boy in question groaned as he took it. 'Stupid water. Ruin my last good silk shirt, will you?' He groused mentally. After the sprinkler had covered him with the water, Nodoka had declared the already thread-worn shirt a loss. The mall administration, having quickly dispatched a maintenance team to repair the failed fire-suppression device, profusely apologized. They had insisted he use the security office's shower to clean off the smell of the stagnant water, and lent him a set of sweats until he had replaced his ruined garb.

He was less-than-pleased to discover that none of the stores in the mall carried his preferred silks. Nodoka, who was none-too-fond of them, decided it was a great opportunity to make him dress properly.

It was only now, after close to an hour of handing him shirts, that she was giving him something loose enough to actually _fight_ in. His mother's idea of "proper" clothes seemed rather… tight for his tastes.

In reality, of course, she had mostly been handing him properly sized tee-shirts and button-up blouses. Ranma was just too used to loose gi and silks. The Saotome woman eventually gave up, and started giving him looser shirts. It took him a bit longer, but he did eventually decide on a number of button-up shirts (all red or blue) and a few accompanying black pants.

After that, the rest of the shopping went by quickly, mostly because Nodoka sent him off to get shoes while she quickly grabbed a few packages of briefs and socks. Fortunately, the shoe store had both agreeable hard-sole shoes, as well as a few pairs of kenpo slippers.

Although she had wanted to get him a more rounded wardrobe, even Nodoka realized that, at this stage, clothes shopping with Ranma was like pulling teeth.

Exhausted and frustrated by the experience, she opted to distract her son with lunch before they continue to the furniture. This plan was immediately approved by the boy, who somehow managed to pull out the dreaded puppy eyes when she mentioned it. Her response was mixed, with both a hearty laugh, and her hand briefly tightening around the strap of her canvas Nodachi-case. She decided it was best to ignore the worrying reflex.

* * *

Ranma was eyeing the collection of beds the store had to offer. His mother had given him no restrictions on price or size before she slid off to do some "secret" shopping, but he was still looking at the more modest models available. All he needed was something sturdy, and big enough that he'd not have to replace it for a while. He'd already picked out the other furniture that he needed, a few small tables, a dresser, a solid desk, and lamps. His mother had even sprung for a small kotatsu.

He settled for a double-sized cherry wood frame, a simple, yet elegant design. The saleswoman following him marked his final selection, and went they went off to the checkout counter. Nodoka made her reappearance in time to pay for the furniture, and arrange for it to be delivered the next day.

It was late afternoon by the time they had finished up at the mall. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Ranma lost in though. It had been just a bit over twenty-four hours since he had arrived on his mother's doorstep. Already, in such a short time, she had managed to secure a position of higher respect and importance in his life than his father had in eight years.

'It makes sense, I suppose.' He though. 'She's given me everything I've lacked on the training trip; love and acceptance. She's kind to me, doesn't steal and blame it on me, she's a good fighter, and can teach just as well as pops without the insane "training". Why shouldn't she be more important?'

"What's on your mind, son?" Nodoka inquired, noticing how deep in though he was.

He looked up at her. "Nothin' really. I've been thinkin' 'bout how much different life is from yesterday. Hard ta believe that before, I was on tha' road without a home."

She nodded. "How does that make you feel?" That brought on a bout of silence as he pondered the question? How did it make him feel? He wasn't quite sure, but was surprised that he was trying so hard to come up with an answer. Genma had beaten more than a little of his will and ability to express his feeling out of him, but he couldn't help but try to answer her to the best of his ability. It was just so _easy_ to open up to her.

"Ya know, I'm not sure." He replied, honestly. "I never thought much about what it would be like to have an actual house to stay in, with my own room, and my own stuff, ya know?" He paused for a moment. "Although, I suppose that pops was gonna have us stay at the Tendo dojo when we got there, so I guess I would have found out one way or another."

"Yes, I suppose you would have, wouldn't you?" She expression soured. She grumbled some very unladylike phrases revolving around pandas, before she caught a look from her son. "Sorry," she said, clearing her throat. "I'm still upset with your father for deciding that staying with his friend was more important than returning home."

Ranma nodded. His mother wasn't the only person upset with that decision. "Why'd he do that, anyways? I would'a thought the greedy panda'd jump all over tha' chance to laze around a big house like ours."

Nodoka stiffened a bit at the question. Now that she'd destroyed the offending contract, she _really_ wasn't keen on letting her son know about it.

"He.. ahh…" 'How do I put this?' "He was probably afraid that I would try to skin him for getting you two cursed out of his own stupidity." 'There. That sounds reasonable, without giving too much away.' Ranma seemed to accept the answer easily enough. "Besides which, when you left, the house was much smaller. I had it renovated while you were off."

They walked a bit further before something occurred to Nodoka.

"Ranma," she began, turning to the boy. "Have you noticed that you haven't been splashed yet?" Ranma blinked, and looked around.

'She's right. On the way, it was water free-for-all. Now, there's not a drop around.'

"Maybe it got tired of chasin' me around after earlier." He responded. Nodoka was about to respond when someone three floors above them bailed a bucket of water onto the younger Saotome.

"Or," she offered, "It was waiting for someone to mention it."

Ranma just growled.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Nerima, Tokyo

A few wards away, the last member of the Saotome family hefted a large travel pack over his shoulder. He turned to his old friend, and gave a nod. By the gods, he was going to recover his worthless child.

"Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane," Soun began from his side, "Take care of the house. We'll be back in a few days with your fiancé."

"But father, we already take care of the house." Kasumi said.

"Yeah, as in, all of it. What makes you think that leaving will change anything?" Nabiki grumbled.

"And what makes you think we _want_ you to come back with a fiancé! Leave him, for all we care!" Akane shot at him.

Soun broke down into tears. "Saotome! My daughters are being mean to me!"

* * *

Meanwhile, a few doors down from the Saotome house in Juuban, one Tsukino Usagi sneezed. "I feel like someone just stole my line!" She grumbled, wiping her nose. Maybe it was Umino.

* * *

Back in Nerima, Genma groused derisively at the display. It was obvious that his friend had lost what little spine he had with his wife's passing. The once proud warrior had been beaten down quite a bit under the master's training. Now, nothing recognizable remained.

As he stepped out into the courtyard, breathing in the late afternoon air, and pondered his situation. With Soun in his current state, and his only 'heir' (put very lightly) barely a master of two basic styles, with a very loose grasp on actual Anything Goes, the pact was starting to look less and less appealing with each passing day.

He started for the first temple on his list, the Higurashi shrine here in Nerima. If he was going to do anything, he would need to recover the boy first. Only then would he see if the Tendo pact was still worth the effort.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Minato, Tokyo

Nodoka was enjoying the sounds of an inhabited house as she cooked dinner. Ranma was currently in the dojo, practicing some of the forms she had used on him earlier. She was still surprised that he had managed to use a few during their post-shopping sparring match. Even after the morning Ki exercises, she was shocked at his learning curve. Some of those were moves she had only used once or twice!

She now had no doubts, she would begin running him through basic kendo forms starting tomorrow. Genma had his chance to shape their son's training, now it was her turn to do the same. He had the potential to become a master of the blade, and she wasn't going to let that go to waste.

She finished up her cooking, and transferred the food and utensils to the table. "Ranma, dinner!" She yelled in the direction of the dojo. She was promptly pushed back a step by the displaced air of a pre-teen boy moving at high speed. 'Funny, I didn't think he could move that fast as a boy.' She thought, sitting down at the table.

Ranma dug into the food with his usual vigor, causing Nodoka to wince. She still remembered the time her niece had combined her high-speed eating with her clumsiness. She had brought her chopsticks down too far trying to grab a clump of rice, and managed to shatter both the chopsticks and the plate they struck.

She decided to draw her son's attention away from the food, at least a bit. "So, Ranma, are you excited for the big day tomorrow?"

He looked up at her, expression blank. "Big day?"

Nodoka blinked. "You don't know?"

Ranma put down his chopsticks, and crossed his arms. He tilted his head to one side, and then to another, before he shrugged.

"Nope. I've got nothin'."

Nodoka's head hit the table. Did he really not know his own birthday? Then again, would Genma have ever given him a reason to?

"Then it will be a surprise, I suppose." She said, weakly.

* * *

While he was not yet used to having a house to stay in, Ranma had to admit that after just a day, he didn't know if he'd be able to do without the constant access to hot water it provided.

He lounged back in the Furo, soaking in the heat, letting wisps of steam floating past his face. It had been a long, satisfying day. While he felt he could have done without some of it, like the medical exams, and the clothes shopping…

Ok, so not _all_ of it was quite as satisfying, but he still felt accomplished.

Soon, his mind started drifting towards what his mother had been trying to bring up at dinner. What was supposed to be happening tomorrow? 'I bet it's something pops was supposed to tell me. She looked angry that I didn't know what it was.' He sighed, and lifted himself out of the Furo. 'I guess I'll find out tomorrow.'

He quickly dried off, and exited the Furo. 'Hmm…' he sniffed at the smell wafting in from the kitchen. 'Smells like mom is baking something.' He was briefly tempted to investigate, but decided against it. 'I can wait for tomorrow.' Thought firmly, before retreating to his room for the night.

* * *

Downstairs, Nodoka heard her son enter his room. She gave a small smile. 'I guess my reaction earlier dissuaded his curiosity.' The woman went back to mixing her homemade icing for the cake. It had been years since she had made Ranma a birthday cake, she was going to do it the proper way, all by hand.

As she finished with the icing, the phone rang. Nodoka had a very good idea of who was on the other end. She grabbed the phone without hesitation.

"Hello?" She paused as someone spoke on the other end of the line. "Ikuko! How are you doing?" "Yes, I'm fine too." "That's good to hear. Listen, I have something to tell you." "No, I'm not canceling dinner tomorrow, in fact, I'm bringing someone new!" "Yes! He's finally home!" "No, his idiot father isn't here either, fortunately for him." "Didn't tell him when his birthday was, for starters." "Yes, I'm baking a cake right now." "Of course you can! It's not like another cake will go uneaten between Ranma and Usagi." She broke into laughter at her friend's comment. "Exactly the same! I had flashbacks of last year's meal at dinner, you know, the plate incident?"

She heard the oven timer beep behind her. "I'm sorry, I need to go finish his cake." "Around five? I'll bring him then." "You'll just love him!" "See you too." "Bye."

She hung up the phone, and pulled the cake out of the oven. Setting it down on the counter next to the stove, she began putting non-essentials away. It would be a while before the cake had cooled down enough to apply the icing, so she might as well clean up a bit. Maybe she could even hit the Furo while she waited.

She wandered up the stairs soon after, intent on grabbing her bath supplies. Her room was down the hall from Ranma's, so she took the opportunity to peek in on him. Quietly as she could, Nodoka slid open the door to her son's room.

Correction, daughter's room. Ranma had brought a glass of water to bed, and managed to knock it over onto herself as she slept. It looked like she had rolled around a bit, but she seemed to be sleeping fairly well.

Nodoka backed out of the room with a smile on her face. So much had happened in just the past day, making her previous loneliness feel like it had been years ago. Why had she ever let Genma take him? Now that she had him back, she was certain that letting them go was the worst decision she had ever made.

She began searching around for her bathing supplies. She had been remiss in her duties as a mother to let them go. She would just have to work harder to make up for that.

(A/N: And that brings us up to all of the chapters I had prewritten. More to follow soon.

You'll notice that Ranma is much more eloquent in his own mind.)


	4. Chapter Three: Hikawa Hijinks

April 27, 1993 – Minato, Tokyo

Ranma was sitting across from his mother in the Saotome Dojo. To his side sat a Nodachi-length bokken. Nodoka mirrored his current positioning, with the addition of her actual Nodachi in addition to a wooden one.

"Ranma," she began, "Starting now, I will be assessing your skills with a sword. I understand that the blade is not your best weapon, but I hope to help you improve. Once you reach a level of skill I deem acceptable, I will begin instructing you in the sword school of my family. Do you understand?" He nodded.

She smiled at him. "Then, if you don't mind, I would like to see you demonstrate what you know."

Ranma stood up, and grabbed the bokken. He brought the wooden blade into Chūdan stance, and held it for a moment, before he began one of the sword kata he knew. As with the day before, Nodoka would carefully watch him move through the kata, while he would watch to see if she could keep up, and would launch into a faster, more complex one once he saw she could keep pace.

Nodoka eventually indicated for him to stop, and came to her feet herself. She handed him a container of ice water, which he quickly and eagerly drained.

Without a word, they both took a stance, and launched into a sparring match. Nodoka went easy on him this time, as a greater gap existed between their kendo skills than with kenpo. His initial performance was a bit sloppy, but within a few strikes, both his guard and offense had improved noticeably. She assumed it was less his learning curve, and more sliding back into the groove of swordfighting.

His attempting to adopt some of her moves in mid-combat, on the other hand, were not.

After a few more minutes of this, she decided she had seen enough of his skill. Satisfied, she disengaged, and called for him to sit down again.

"Good work, my son. I am not disappointed in your swordwork." 'Actually, I'm impressed Genma even taught him that much. Maybe I should give him more credit?' "How long has it been since you last worked with a blade regularly?"

Ranma looked at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember. "Ah, 'bout a year or so, I think. I practice a little bit every so often, but mostly just ta' keep my skills with it up. Pops would make me use a sword every so often, just ta' make sure I wasn't gettin' bad with it."

She nodded at that. People often thought her husband didn't like weapons, but few realized the only thing he disliked was the lack of versatility inherent in using only _one_ weapon. He always cross-trained with multiple types.

"What other weapons did he train you with? You mentioned staff fighting yesterday."

"Well, let's see. He ran me through staves, Japanese swords, Chinese swords, a few types of western swords, naginata, general polearms, chui…" he continued to list off a variety of increasingly obscure weapon skills, before Nodoka had him stop.

"I think I get the general idea, son." She said. "I want you to know, before we start, that the techniques of my sword school can easily be used with almost any weapon. Your versatility training will be nothing but a boon in its use."

Ranma looked impressed. "I've never heard'a a school like that." He said. "What do you practice? Anything Goes swordfighting?"

His mother laughed. "No, silly. I don't practice Anything Goes, although from my understanding, the Tendo branch of it is closer to your idea. At least, last I saw, Soun was always favoring weapons when he and Genma would spar." She shook her head. "No, I practice Shinmei-ryu."

"Shinmei-ryu?" He echoed.

"Yes, it's an older school from Kyoto. Shinmei styles and techniques require moderate to advanced Ki-control to work, and are designed for fighting spiritual and supernatural foes. Versatility is considered a central aspect of the art, and thanks to your father, I know first-hand that Shinmei-ryu and Anything Goes compliment each other very well in battle."

He was looking excited now. "And I get to learn it?"

Nodoka smiled at him. "Once I deem your skills fit. Now, join me, there are a few things I noticed during our sparring match that you could work on." Soon enough, both mother and son were deeply engrossed in the kendo lesson.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

It was four hours before the Saotomes finally left the dojo. Nodoka was incredibly pleased with Ranma's progress. Over the morning, she had discovered what many temple and dojo masters had over the last decade; the youngest Saotome was a pleasure to teach. His incredibly fast learning speed and eagerness to learn anything martial arts made it hard to resist showing him any new techniques.

She was looking forward to the day she finally judged him ready to learn Shinmei-ryu, which shouldn't be more than a week. It had been far too long since she had taught anyone regularly, and Touko rarely came around for lessons anymore since she started teaching at Mahora.

She thumbed through the mail while Ranma was in the Furo. "Bill," she said, tossing it onto the counter, "Bill, magazine, bill, advertisement, bill, letter from the Ainos…" She opened the letter. It was mostly Mrs. Aino telling her that she and her family were returning from England in a few months, and that they should meet for lunch when they finally get home.

She made a note to visit when they got back, and quickly made up some lunch. Ranma came down the stairs just a few minutes after the food was ready, and vacuumed his share down in short order. While they ate, Nodoka glanced over at the clock and saw they still had a few hours before Ikuko wanted them over. "Ranma," She asked, "Would you like to meet your granduncle?"

He stopped eating for a moment. "Granduncle? Ya' mean we have more family?"

"Of course, dear! You have plenty. Aside from him and his granddaughter, Rei, my cousin Ikuko and her two children, Usagi and Shingo, live a few doors down from us."

He blinked. "We have family that close?"

"Yes. Ikuko and I have always been close. I was the one that suggested they move there. We'll actually be having dinner with them tonight."

"Does it hafta do with the 'special occasion' ya were talkin' about last night?"

Nodoka frowned for a moment, but quickly brightened. "Why yes, as a matter of fact it does."

Before he could inquire further, she continued. "Anyway, the Tsukinos and Hinos are just the family we have in the area. Beyond them, your father has a few siblings that live in other wards, and my family, who live in Kyoto."

She peered at him over the rim of her cup. "So, would you like to go?" He nodded. "Then we will leave as soon as your furniture arrives."

He looked confused. Nodoka was about to make a remark, but it was at that point the van from the store actually arrived, leaving any comments eternally unsaid.

Nodoka drafted Ranma into helping the movers and her transport the contents of the van up to his room. Between their Ki-enhanced strength, the truck was unloaded in very short order. Once everything was in his room, they proceeded to re-arrange it until both were happy with the look.

A few minutes later, both were dressed and off. The walk to the shrine was surprisingly short, no more than ten blocks from where the house was. Nodoka pointed the Tsukino home out to Ranma as they passed it.

A few past the local high school, Ranma asked his mother what uncle Hino was like. Her response was… honest.

"Uncle Hino? He… can be a handful. He's wise and kind, and will go out of his way to help others. He takes his duties seriously, and is a very capable exorcist. However, he has his downsides." She frowned a bit. "He will often try to counterbalance his devotion with a happy-go-lucky attitude that makes it hard for some people to take him seriously. He's more than a bit of a pervert, as well, and he's not particularly subtle about it."

She sighed. "Even people who know about his serious side sometimes get frustrated with his antics. Your cousin frequently complains to me about how his act sometimes drives customers away, and that his perversion makes her friends shy away from visiting her."

"If his actin' causes so much trouble, why does he keep it up?" Ranma asked.

Nodoka gave him a sad smile. "Sometimes, when we get into a routine, we have a hard time stopping, even if we know it does more harm than good."

He nodded in agreement. He knew that he was guilty of just that kind of action before. After all, why had he kept grabbing all the bread away from Ryoga in school, even when he was trying to be amicable to the poor boy?

"So, what's Rei like, then?" He asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Rei?" Nodoka smiled. "She's a lot like her grandfather, although she'll never admit to it. She's just as serious and devoted to her work at the shrine, but without his goofy acting. She's a kind girl, but has a rather short temper, and is a more than a bit vindictive." She let out a short snicker. "She's also gotten a bit of her grandfather's lechery, if her attempt to peek inside the men's side of the public bathes while she thought nobody was looking is any indication."

Ranma joined in with her humor reaction. "That's great! I bet she's the kinda girl that's quick ta' accuse others of bein' perverts, too."

Nodoka shook her head. "I'm not sure about that dear, but I can tell you that she vehemently denied it when I caught her. She was very embarrassed. I think she was still scarlet when I came back over a week later."

They continued joking about this incident, and others involving Rei, for the rest of the trip to the shrine. By the time they arrived, Ranma almost felt like he had know the girl for years, despite not even knowing what she looked like.

* * *

Tendo Soun was not in a good mood. First, his old friend had lost his son on the way to the dojo. Then, when a full sweep of the ward had failed to turn up the wayward Saotome, he had sent him off to a small temple, just because he was afraid of his wife!

In his opinion, the situation was beginning to spiral out of control. Not only was Saotome's son resisting the arrangement, but he was suspecting that his own daughters were, too! How could this be the case? Hadn't he raised them into proper young women? He could understand the boy doing it, after all, young men were rebellious like that, but shouldn't his girls be thanking him for choosing them such a worthy husband?

Sometimes, he felt like the world didn't make sense anymore. With a sigh, he hiked his pack over his shoulder, and continued on. He'd get to the shrine eventually.

* * *

"Uncle Hino!" Nodoka called out as they reached the top of the stairs to the shrine. She hadn't called ahead, but she knew that the old man would most likely be there. He never left the shrine unattended if he could avoid it.

Ranma, meanwhile, spent the time looking around the shrine. He was impressed by the size of the compound; it didn't seem like the lot it was situated on was large enough to hold it from outside.

A door on the side of the courtyard opened, and a short, bald old man walked out. He turned to face the stairs, and broke into a wide smile.

"No-chan! Good afternoon!" He said, walking towards them. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, uncle." Nodoka said, matching his smile.

He nodded. "That's good to hear. It would be a shame if something bad were to happen to my favorite niece!" He turned to face Ranma. "And who is this?"

Nodoka indicated to him. "Uncle, this is my son, Ranma. He's finally returned home from his training trip."

The elder Hino patted Ranma on the shoulders with both hands. "Ranma, my boy! I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get to see No-chan's little boy before I passed on." He broke into a hearty laugh. "You gave your mother quite the scare a few weeks ago, you know!"

Ranma looked up at his mother. "Mom? What happened?"

Nodoka looked down at him making a waving gesture. "Oh, it was nothing, son. I just had a few small accidents around the house the day you and your father went to Jusenkyo." Ranma gave her an uncomfortable look. She quickly tried to pass it off as no big deal. "It's nothing to worry about, dear, I just wasn't convinced when your father told me the place was harmless in his last letter."

The boy blinked. "Pops sent ya' letters?"

"Yes he did. Once a month, actually." She scowled a bit. "He probably realized that if he didn't, I would have hunted him to the ends of the earth."

Ranma was suddenly struck by a stylized image of Nodoka chasing Genma in circles, waving her sword wildly at him and shouting profanities.

Uncle Hino could tell there was more to this than was let on. He slid into serious mode, narrowing his eyes and looking at Nodoka. "No-chan, is there anything I should know?"

She returned his look, and gave a nod of confirmation. "Yes, there is. We should probably talk about it inside."

Her uncle pointed at a path leading off to the side of the courtyard. "Please, come inside the house. We can talk over tea."

The group quickly moved into the Hino residence on the shrine grounds. Ranma and Nodoka sat down at the table, while Uncle Hino fixed them up refreshments. When he joined them at the table, the Saotomes took turns explaining to him the specifics of the trip to Jusenkyo, and the curses. By the time they had finished, Hino was giving a sagely nod.

"What you say confirms my fire readings from that day." He said. "I've heard of Jusenkyo before; there are records of people seeking out cures here, but I have never before seen one myself."

He looked at Ranma. "Young man, if I were you, I would consider myself lucky. There are supposed to be over one-hundred springs at that accursed place, and you managed to fall into one of the most benign."

Ranma was about to interject, but the elder Hino held up his hand in a stopping gesture. "Do not try to refute it, boy. Like it or not, there are much worse fates to be found in that valley. You could have fallen into a spring that made you into a defenseless animal, or could have warped your mind. Instead, it left you with a minor inconvenience."

The youngest Saotome looked thoughtful for a moment. Having been to Jusenkyo himself, he could agree with the older man. The springs had gone on as far as the eye could see. If each and every one of those pools had carried a unique curse, just how lucky was he to retain a human form? He thought of his father, Genma.

When he was in panda form, his father was restricted to communication through writing, and was significantly less powerful a fighter. He could hardly jump half the height he could manage as a human, crippling many of the Saotome School's core abilities, and he became downright sluggish. Unlike Ranma's female form, he didn't even trade attributes, his strength and durability only increasing marginally.

While Ranma worked through this in his head, Nodoka turned to address her uncle. "You say that Jusenkyo victims have sought a cure here before," She asked. "Have any of them every found one?"

Hino shook his head sadly. "It's been a while since I've been through the temple records, but I do not believe so. I could look through those accounts again, but I doubt it will turn up anything."

"Please, anything that you can find to help my son would be much appreciated." She said.

Her uncle looked at the ceiling for a moment, thinking back to the archives. It had been a few years, but there had also been quite a few of the reports. He seemed to remember a few mentioned things that _hadn't_ worked as cures, and that one thing in particular was mentioned quite frequently…

Wait. "Ranma-kun." He said, seriously. His grandnephew caught the tone and gave him his full attention. "Whatever you do, do not seek out more water from the springs."

Ranma blinked at that. "Why would I want _more_ water from that place? This curse is bad enough!"

Hino sighed. "Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I seem to remember that a few of the records mentioned people trying to use water from one of the springs, 'the Drowned Man', if I recall, as a cure. I don't remember much, but they all had warnings that it did not cure the curse, and carried some form of side-effect."

Ranma and Nodoka gave him worried looks. Nodoka knew from her work that many curses carried nasty fail-safes to prevent their removal. They sat there in silence for a minute or so, before the front door slid open.

"Grandfather!" A female voice called from the shoe rack, "I'm home! Oh, we have guests over?" The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the room. An early-teenage girl with long, black hair and dark eyes entered the dining area. She was wearing an ash-grey school uniform.

The new girl quickly took stock of the people in the room. "Oh, Auntie!" She gave the older woman a polite smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Nodoka responded, before she indicated to the boy sitting next to her. "Rei-chan, I'd like you to meet my son, Ranma."

Rei blinked, her face blank for a moment. She had been wondering who the boy was, and even carried the fanciful suspicion that it was her missing cousin, but she had not expected Auntie Nodoka to introduce him so casually.

She quickly recovered, and introduced herself to her new cousin. "It's nice to meet you," she said, giving a polite bow, "I'm Hino Rei."

Ranma began to stand up to return her greeting, but bumped his knee hard into the table, dislodging his now cold cup of tea and spilling it all over his lap. Rei just stood there, staring in shock.

"Wonderful." Ranma said, wiping the liquid off her clothes with a dishrag. "Now I don't need ta' figure out how ta' show ya' about the curse."

* * *

After explanations had been given, Nodoka and Rei dragged Ranma towards the younger Hino's bedroom. Upon examining Ranma's clothing, it was determined that they would need to be washed. Rei offered up some of her clothing for the now-female Saotome to wear, which Ranma quickly tried to refuse. Unfortunately, her mother intervened, declaring that she would not let her continue wearing those clothes in their current state.

Ranma continued to struggle the entire way to the bedroom, causing Rei to lose her temper. "RANMA! Stop acting like a brat! They're only clothes!" The infuriated Miko shouted.

"No way!" She retorted, still trying to escape her mother's grasp. "I'm not wearing girls clothes!"

"So what, are you going to run around naked then?" Rei shot back.

"I'll turn back into a guy! I'm sure your grandpa has somethin' I can wear!"

Rei started rooting through her dresser. "We already told you! Grandfather doesn't have anything that will fit either of your forms! Now shut up about it already!"

Tired of the argument, Nodoka stepped in to mediate. "Now Ranma, it's only for a little while." She said. "Besides, as long as you have your curse, you might as well get used to this. There may be times you are required to dress for your female form."

"But…!" Ranma began.

Nodoka gave her daughter a look that clearly said 'don't argue with me'. "Ranma, dear, if you continue to resist, I will ask Rei-chan to stop looking for pants, and start looking through her dresses and skirts. Am I understood?"

The girl blanched at the thought. "I'll be good." She squeaked out.

Rei huffed in annoyance as she pulled some garments out of the drawer. "About time. Now put this on, it should fit you." She handed the bundle to the smaller girl. It was a white tee shirt and pink overalls.

The pigtailed girl gave her mother a forlorn look, before sighing in defeat and dressing herself. 'At least these aren't _too_ girly.' She thought to herself.

Her mother and Rei struggled to suppress giggles as they saw what the boy-turned-girl looked like in the clothes. "How do they fit?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma tugged at the fabric. "They're a bit big for me." She said. She tugged at the ankles of the overalls and looked up at Rei. "Ya' got any ties I could use for 'em?"

Rei looked her over for a moment. "I think so…" She went over to she desk, and started searching through it. "Aha!" the girl exclaimed, pulling two short ribbons out.

She passed them over to Ranma, who examined them for a moment before tying off the pants. She shook one of the legs around for a moment, before giving it a satisfied nod. "That's 'bout as good as they'll get for me."

Finished, the three females returned to the dining room. They found that grandpa Hino had cleaned up the table while they were in Rei's room, and was now at the window, staring at a tree across the courtyard.

"Rei-chan" he said, looking at his granddaughter, "would you like to show Ranma-kun around the shrine?"

"Grandfather?" She asked. "What about my chores?"

He gave her a goofy grin. "Don't worry about them! I'm not so old that I can't run my own shrine! Your cousin deserves to be shown around by someone her own age!" He waved them off, before heading to the side door. "Have fun!"

Rei watched him as he walked off. 'What is he up to…?' She thought, narrowing her eyes. She was about to follow him when Nodoka grabbed her shoulder. The older woman pointed out the window at the tree her uncle had previously been staring at, and gave her a conspiratorial wink. She looked at the tree, and sure enough, there was a man sitting in it, watching the stairs leading up to the temple.

Nodoka suddenly spoke up. "Come along, my daughter!" She said in an over-the-top, cheery tone. Ranma blinked for a moment. Daughter? Before she could make a comment on it, Rei nudged her in the side and whispered into her ear.

"I'm not sure what's going on," She said, "but I think auntie Nodoka has a plan for that guy watching the temple. Play along." Ranma gave a stiff nod. They followed her mother out the door.

* * *

In a tree to the side of the temple, Soun adjusted is sitting position. The tree was uncomfortable, but it paled in comparison to some of the horrors he and Saotome suffered under the cruel yoke of the Master.

It had only been a few minutes since he had taken to his current vantage point, but it didn't seem that the shrine was very busy. Nobody had even passed on the street, let alone visited the shrine. Had Saotome's boy really come here?

He scanned the temple grounds a bit, looking for any sign of activity. He thought he saw something in the windows of the house, but dismissed it as nothing. He glanced down at his watch, just to see how long he had wasted sitting here.

A noise caught his attention. Turning back to the house, he almost fell out of the tree when he saw a short old man walk out the side door. "**The Master.**" he hissed out, eyes wide with fear. "How did he survive?"

Then he noticed that the man was too tall, and dressed as a Shinto priest. Obviously, this couldn't be the master. His evil would have darkened the hollowed robes on contact. He shook his head, clearing out the last vestiges of fear when the front door opened.

He pulled himself behind cover of the leaves and looked down. There, he saw Saotome's wife walk out of the door. She didn't seem to notice him. Apparently his old friend's worries were valid, she _did_ come here regularly, it seemed.

'Hmmm…' he though, as he watched her. The woman below was apparently talking to someone. Who, though?

"Come along, girls!" He heard she shout to whoever was inside. Girls? Oh, right, hadn't Saotome said that the old priest had a Granddaughter here? It must be her and friends.

As he thought this, two girls walked out behind Nodoka. One had black hair flowing down her back. The other had her hair in a pigtail. Wait, a pigtail? Girl, short, black hair, pigtail…

No… It couldn't be. She was dressed like a girl. Saotome said his son would never do something like that.

"Ah, Mother, wait up!" The pigtailed girl yelled louder than needed as she ran up to Saotomes wife.

'It can't be…' Soun stated. He was in shock. That had to be someone else. Obviously, Saotome had a daughter he had never mentioned, or his wife had adopted while he was on the training trip. That had to be it!

"Yes, Ranma-chan?" Nodoka turned to her child, making sure to be loud enough that Soun could hear her.

He couldn't take much more of this. What was going on? Saotome said his wife would kill the child of he wasn't a man among men. Why was Ranma with her mother, as a girl, and still alive?

"I, er, I, ah.." She said, stumbling awkwardly over the 'lines' Rei had fed her as they left the building. "Just, ah.. didn't want to be to far from you? I did just get back, ya' kn… er, I mean, you know."

Nodoka managed to keep a straight face. Ranma had absolutely no acting skills. It was a fortunate thing that Tendo Soun is an idiot.

"I'm glad that you're home too, my daughter, I won't let you go again."

That did it. Soun fell out of the tree, sobbing. Saotome was right in one regard, his wife _had_ killed their son for not being manly enough, he just hadn't expected her to do it by turning the poor boy into her daughter.

Saotome would be distraught! His lovely daughters no longer had a husband! His art would never be passed on! The schools would never be joined!

As Soun ran, his wailing echoed off the embankments along the road. The three in the courtyard managed to hold off their laughter until he passed Sendai Hill. But only just.

"Ranma, dear," Nodoka said as she turned to her child, "I don't think we will have to worry about seeing your father for a while yet.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Later that afternoon, Ranma and her mother returned home. Ranma had wanted to wait until her normal clothes were finished being cleaned, but Nodoka informed her that they needed to get home soon, if they wanted to have dinner with Ikuko and her family.

Rei had worn a wicked smile when she told them that Ranma was free to wear her clothes home, so long as she got them back. Nodoka assumed that her niece would tail them part of the way back, just to see Ranma squirm at being dressed like a girl in public.

The moment they stepped through the door, Ranma bolted up the stairs and towards the Furo. Obviously, the girl thought she had been female for far too long.

While her child was bathing, she laid out one of the nicer sets of clothes she had got for him outside of the Furo. Then she herself got dressed up. Nothing complex, just a simple blouse and an ankle-length skirt loose enough to fight in.

She went into the kitchen to wait for Ranma, and poured herself a cup of tea. It was cold, made before they left. Normally, she would have made a new pot, but with limited time, she cheated, imparting the liquid with a bit of Ki to bring to a more comfortable temperature to drink. A few minutes later, Ranma came down the stairs, and they left the house.

* * *

A few doors down, Tsukino Ikuko stood back from the dining room and admired her hard work. She had kept the decorations light, restricting them to a fancy tablecloth and a few streamers. She figured that someone who had spent as much time on the road as Ranma wouldn't properly appreciate a lavish welcome.

Then there was the food. Nodoka had told her Ranma was easily able to match Usagi when it came to eating, so Ikuko had a very good idea of what she should be cooking; everything she could find. The dinner she had finally made was a combination of celebratory foods from all over Asia, and from more than a few western countries.

For desserts, she knew that Nodoka was making a cake for her son, but knowing that two big eaters were going to be present, she made one as well, and bought four cartons of ice cream to go with them.

"Wah! Look at all the food!" Usagi said as she walked into the room, hearts in her eyes as she looked over the feast. She rushed over to the table, grabbing a pork bun up in the blink of an eye. "Itadakimasu~!" She called happily, only to have the food knocked out of her hand by her mother.

"USAGI!" Her mother chastised, hands on her hips. "You know better than to steal from the table! It's rude to start eating before the guest of honor arrives!"

"But mama," Usagi whined, "I forgot to bring my bento to school with me! And they look so yummy!" She began inching her hand back towards the table, only to receive a smack on the head from Ikuko's ladle.

She glared at her daughter. "Young lady, if you try that again, you're not going to be allowed to have any of the cake or ice cream after dinner."

Usagi looked at her, and burst into tears. "Papa! Mama's being mean to me!" She wailed.

Her mother shook her head. "Honestly, Usagi, will you ever grow up? Crying isn't going to solve anything here."

Shingo walked past his sister, purposefully stepping on her foot. "Geese, Usagi, why do you have to be so loud, stupid?" He began to reach for a pork bun himself, but stopped when he caught his mother's glare.

The doorbell rang. "I'll be right there!" Ikuko called, and started towards the door. She took a quick glance at her children, and seeing them both shuffling towards the table, dragged them with her to the front hall.

She opened the door, and saw her cousin standing there, sword case slung over her back, with a black-haired boy standing next to her.

"Nodoka-chan!" She cried happily. "Don't just stand out there, come in!" Nodoka and her companion stepped in, and removed their shoes. Kenji, Ikuko's husband, joined his family in the hall as they did.

Now wearing a pair of guest slippers, the boy introduced himself as Ranma, Nodoka's son. Before anyone from her family could introduce themselves, Usagi decided to do it for them.

"Hi! I'm Usagi! This is my mama Ikuko, my papa Kenji, and my twerp of a brother Shingo!"

"HEY!" Shingo shouted, indignantly.

"Auntie Nodoka's told us all about you! Happy Birthday!"

Ranma blinked for a moment. Birthday…? "It's my birthday?"

The Tsukinos gave him a funny look. Nodoka just looked saddened. "Yes, dear." She said. "Today is your birthday. I suppose your father never gave you the chance to celebrate it?"

He shook his head. "Nah. There were a few times I asked him when it was, but he'd always act the same as when I asked about you; tell me to stop actin' like a girl and get back to trainin'."

Nodoka fumed at that. Of _course_ that idiot would do something like that. Boy, when she got her hands on him…

Her niece, not being one to sit around and plan revenge on unthinking spouse, immediately ran up and gave the boy a hug. "That's so sad!" She said. "Everybody deserves to celebrate their birthday!" She started to drag him towards the dining room. "Lets go! We have a lot of missed birthdays to get you caught up on!"

Nodoka put a hand on her son's shoulder, stopping Usagi from pulling him away. "Ranma," She began, "do you want to tell them about your condition now, or wait until an accident happens?"

The boy looked up at her, confusion evident on his face. She smiled at him. "You know that something will happen, sweetie. Best tell them now, and get it over with."

The Tsukinos looked among themselves. They had absolutely no idea what the Saotomes were talking about. Ikuko gave her cousin a questioning look. "No-chan? What haven't you told us about him…?"

Nodoka gave Ranma's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It would probably be best to show you."

* * *

After taking the Tsukinos into the kitchen to demonstrate the curse, Ikuko stared at Ranma, wide-eyed. She had seen some strange things before, hell, she had _caused_ some strange things before, but she couldn't for the life of her even begin to figure out just how a curse like this could exist.

Her husband looked unfazed. He followed her through many of those strange situations, but lacked the knowledge to know just how strange this was.

Shingo and Usagi were crowding around the poor child, acting like the curse was the coolest thing in the world. They were taking turns dumping water over Ranma's head.

The youngest Saotome was becoming increasingly annoyed. By the third time the Tsukino children had turned her into a girl, she put her foot down.

"Will ya' knock it off already?" She ground out angrily. "I _just_ got cleaned up, ya' know! Now look, you got my clothes soaked! Again!"

Usagi looked over her. The girl was drenched. She felt bad for a moment; knowing how uncomfortable wet clothes can be, but suddenly brightened. "Come on, I have some dry clothes you can wear!" She grabbed the girls' hand to drag her upstairs.

Nodoka decided to intervene on Ranma's behalf, this time. "Oh, we wouldn't want to impose on you, Usagi." She said, sweetly. "I brought a change of clothes for Ranma, just in case." She handed a dry shirt and pants off to her currently-female child.

Her daughter gave her a look of gratitude. "Ranma, there's a bathroom up the stairs, at the end of the hallway." Ikuko said, feeling sorry for her niece/nephew. "Feel free to warm up quickly."

She didn't have to hear that twice. Ranma dashed up the stairs towards the offer of warmth and regained manhood. A moment later, the bathroom door slammed shut.

Ikuko began scolding her children the moment the door closed. "USAGI! SHINGO! What do you think you're doing to a guest of this house?" She tapped her foot as her children stared at the floor in silence. "Well?"

As his wife continued to berate Usagi and Shingo, Kenji walked over to the Saotome woman. "Why were you carrying around a change of clothes for Ranma?" He asked. "Were you expecting the kids to do that?"

She began to giggle. "Of course not. He just gets splashed so often, so I thought I would be nicer to him this time!"

At Kenji's perplexed look, she explained. "He got splashed earlier, and had to wear some clothes from his cousin Rei's wardrobe until we got home. I knew that if he got splashed here, Usagi would try to do the same."

He shook his head. Nodoka had certainly saved her son a world of unintended humiliation from his daughter. She meant well, but sometimes she didn't realize other people weren't necessarily as… enthusiastic about some things as she was.

Usagi, still being scolded by her mother, began wailing again. "Mama!" She cried, "I just thought she'd look good in some of my clothes! I was just trying to be helpful!"

Nodoka resumed her prior giggling. The Tsukinos turned to look at her. "I'm sorry," She said, trying to bring herself under control, "It's just, Usagi is completely right!" With that, she proceeded to make use of a skill she had been denied since Genma took Ranma away; telling humiliating stories about her son.

* * *

Ranma paused in the middle of toweling off. A shiver worked its way down his spine. "Somethin' bad's happened, I just know it." He grumbled.

* * *

Nodoka's story of the events at the Hikawa shrine quickly led to an explanation of Ranma's return to Minato. Something wasn't sitting right Ikuko, though.

"No-chan." She interrupted her cousin. "What about the contract?"

Nodoka paled. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Ikuko." She said weakly, looking at the base of the stairs with concern.

"You know, the contract that you made with Genma, that you'd –." She was cut off when Nodoka tackled her just as Ranma was coming down the stairs.

The boy looked at the scene, bemused. "…Mom? Why are you laying on top of Auntie Ikuko?" He asked.

She let out a nervous laugh, unconsciously scratching the back of her neck in a manner highly reminiscent of her son. "I, ah, tripped. Nothing to worry about, dear." She quickly came to her feet, and gave Ikuko a hand up.

Everyone in the room gave her a confused look. The silence was becoming unbearably awkward for the elder Saotome. She looked to find something, anything, that she could use to draw their attention away from her.

Fortunately, Usagi and Ranma's stomachs came to the rescue, loudly declaring to the quiet room that dinner had been postponed for far too long.

They both looked at the table sheepishly. "Well!" Nodoka declared, thankful for the distraction, "Lets have dinner, shall we?"

The combined Tsukino and Saotome families took their seats. Nodoka, in her infinite wisdom, decided to seat both her son and her niece side-by-side, hoping their combined eating speeds would serve to keep Ikuko from returning to their previous topic.

"Ooh! Pork buns!" Both Ranma and Usagi's arms vanished, as their plates were quickly stacked high with food. Then, moving with near-perfect synchronization, they began to eat.

Ikuko, Kenji, and Shingo watched with blank expressions as they witnessed the _Destroyers of Food_ at work. Truly, it was a spectacle to behold. They had seen Usagi eat like this before, sure, but to see another who could match her evenly was beyond comprehension.

Just when they though things couldn't get any stranger, the two began attempting to steal food off of each other's plates. Quickly, a chopstick sparring match had begun in full force.

The two preteens shifted their focus to the food battle, employing moves and speed straight out of a bad wuxia film. The eating implements flashed, clacked, and dove around each other in pursuit of their goal. It wasn't long before the unclaimed food in the center of the table began to take casualties, the two combatants needed to replenish their own plates.

Ranma was highly impressed with his cousin. 'Not even pops could keep up with me when it came to our table fights.' He though.

'He's good.' Usagi admitted. 'I've never competed against someone with his skill.'

Acting on some unspoken signal, they both yelled battle cries and increased their speed. Still, they were matched, but now the fight had surpassed speeds discernable by the unaided human eye.

Shaken, but losing interest, Ikuko turned away from the fight, and rapidly diminishing piles of food on the table. She got the distinct impression that Nodoka was trying to distract her.

"So, No-chan," She began, internally smirking as her cousin began looking uncomfortable. "How did Ranma-kun do?"

Nodoka was about to throw in a disarming reply, when the chopstick battle came to an abrupt halt. Ranma, who had temporarily relieved Usagi of her utensils, spoke up. "How'd I do on what?" He asked.

His mother froze, before giving him an overly-quick reply. "Ah, at the uh, doctor's, dear!" She smiled at him. "I was, ah, telling Ikuko-chan about yesterday, you see."

Ikuko's face took on a cat-like grin. "Yes, she told us _all_ about that." Nodoka was obviously hiding something, if the way she was now frantically making stopping gestures at her over Ranma's head was any indication.

Her husband, oblivious to Nodoka's obvious distress, suddenly remembered the pact as well. "Oh, right! It was wondering too, didn't you and your husband have that contract t-OWCH!" he didn't get to finish that thought, as he received a quick jab to the ankle by Nodoka's foot from under the table.

"Ya' had a contract?" Ranma asked, genuinely curious now.

Nodoka was in full panic mode now. "Ah, no! It wasn't a contract, it was a, ah… Contest! Yeah, that's it! A contest about, uh, you!" Ranma was probably the only person she was fooling now.

He blinked. "About me?"

'Well done, Nodoka. Tell him _more_, why don't you!' She mentally chastised herself. "Yes! We had something of a bet going about…ah" she struggled to come up with something plausible. Suddenly, it came to her.

"About… which of us you were going to most resemble! Physically!" It took all of her willpower to resist shouting in triumph.

Kenji frowned. "But, I could have sworn it was a Se- AGH!" he cried in pain as his wife and Nodoka both kicked him in the shins. Ikuko gave him a look that clearly told him to drop the subject.

Ranma was still oblivious to all of this. "So… which of ya' do I look more like?" He asked.

His mother, much less panicked than before, turned her attention back to him. "Why, me of course! It's less obvious when you're a boy, but you look just like I did at you age as a girl!"

He frowned, but continued to ask. "So, does pops hafta give you somethin' for winnin', then?"

"Oh yes." Nodoka said, her voice becoming cold. "The next time I run into your father, I'll make sure to collect _exactly_ what he owes me." Her eyes hardened for a moment. "Most likely in the form of a panda-skin rug." She added, too quiet for Ranma to hear.

Ranma shrugged, and handed Usagi back her chopsticks. They immediately resumed their previous battle, finishing off the rest of the food within a few minutes.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Nerima, Tokyo.

In the neighborhoods surrounding the Higurashi shrine, Saotome Genma cursed his luck. It had been _eight years_ since he was last here! How was he supposed to know the priest still held a grudge? So what if he had accidentally destroyed that well behind the temple, it wasn't like they were using it! How was he supposed to know that the shed he was 'perusing' had some dangerous, explosive magical artifacts?

Genma grumbled as he continued on. The man had some nerve, calling the police on him. How had he even spotted him in the tree?

At least he had confirmed that Ranma was not there. The way that the old man had cried for vengeance on the Saotome name made that clear enough. Sadly, this venture had also cost Genma his pack and supplies. He would need to return to the Tendo dojo before he could head for the next temple on the list. Maybe he could even get a game of Shogi in with Tendo before he set off again.

'Of course, Tendo probably isn't even back from Minato yet.' He thought sourly. Genma wasn't expecting him to find anything there. The list the boy took had many temples on it; what were the chances he would end up at _that_ one?

He took to the rooftops, now that he was far enough away from the shrine. It was a bit of a risk, parentally alerting the police to his preferred method of transit, but even roof-hopping, it would take far too long to return to the Tendo dojo.

As her continued back, his mind kept wandering back to the topic of his son. He still couldn't understand where the blasted child had run off to! There were only five or six more shrines from the book he had not investigated yet.

Maybe he hadn't found the address card? It was always possible; he had hidden it fairly well. If that was the case, though, he imagined that Ranma would probably be camping in some forest outside of Tokyo, then.

A truly chilling though, though, is that he had sought out his mother. As far as Genma was concerned, that was the worst-case scenario. When he had first written up the contract, it had been an excuse to let him take the boy without her interference. Sure, she was a skilled swordswoman, and sure she could _occasionally_ beat him enough to claim victory in half their fights, but she was still a mother, and that means she would pamper him into weakness.

It wasn't until a few months on the road that it had occurred to Genma that his wife would take the contract seriously. He hadn't been too worried; after all, who else could take a boy, and turn him into a 'man among men', than someone who was already the pinnacle of masculine achievement?

Then Jusenkyo happened. It still brought tears to his eyes, every time he saw his son become a daughter with the application of water. Why had something like this happened? What had he ever done to deserve this? Had it not been for those cursed springs, he could have been lounging at home, his wife cooking for him as he let his boy and the Tendo girls get to know each other from a distance.

Now, he had to push the arrangement. With his child's unique condition, getting him married and siring heirs was the only way he could prove to Nodoka that he had raised a true man. He had even found a priest that would be willing to, for the right price, marry them despite the fact the boy was close to five years too young to legally be wed.

It had been a load off his mind to find a priest who held silly things such as 'laws' with as much respect as he did.

He cleared the wall of the Tendo compound a few minutes later, landing next to the koi pond. Nabiki, who had been watching her younger sister practice on training dummies in the corner, gave him a bored look.

"Mr. Saotome, I'm surprised to see you back so soon." She said, turning her attention back to Akane. Genma grumbled, and walked into the house.

'It doesn't look like Tendo's back yet.' He though, as headed for the kitchen. With his friend out, the only person who knew the house well enough to find a spare bag was Kasumi.

The eldest Tendo girl greeted him as he entered. "Saotome-san." She smiled.

"Hello, Kasumi dear." He responded. "I misplaced my bag at the last shrine. Would your father have one that I could use?"

She maintained her smile. "Of course. Father's bag is in the entryway. He didn't unpack it when he returned."

Genma frowned. Tendo was back? Why wasn't he waiting out here for news? Something must have happened. "Excuse me, but did you say that he is already back?" He asked as politely as he could manage. Kasumi was one of the few people he couldn't even think to be demanding to.

"Yes, he returned a few hours ago." She said, her voice falling slightly. "He seemed rather upset after he ran into your wife and daughter."

He looked pale. "He ran into No-chan…" Suddenly, the rest of her words reached him. "Wait… Daughter? Did you say Daughter?"

* * *

Genma burst into the bedroom of his old friend, to find him curled up on the middle of the bed, gibbering like a madman between horrific sobs.

"Never be joined…" He intoned in a flat, shaking voice. "They'll never be joined…"

Needed an explanation, Genma rushed across the room and began shaking the distraught martial artist. "TENDO! Snap out of it!" He yelled, trying to get the man's attention.

It partially worked. Soun's eyes turned to his friend's, still slightly out of focus. "S-saotome…?" He asked, as if seeing his old buddy was the strangest thing he had ever seen. "How…? I don't…?" His eyes began to lose focus again.

"Stay with me, Tendo!" Genma cried, beginning to fill with dread. "You have to tell me, what did my wife _do_ to you?" Fresh tears welled up in the corners of Soun's eyes. He quickly broke down and curled back up.

From the door, Nabiki pinched the bridge of her nose as she watched the interactions between the two. "Seriously, Daddy." She mumbled. "Can you get any more pathetic?"

Genma turned to her, anger clearly on display across his face. "Show a little respect to your father, Girl!" He shouted. How could she be so disrespectful in her father's time of need?

Unfazed by his outcry, Nabiki spoke up. "He does this a lot. It gets old after a while." She held out her hand. "5000 yen, and I'll show you how to get his attention."

The elder Saotome paused, weighing his options. It was true; none of the Tendo girls seemed particularly worried his friend's obvious distress. Perhaps this _did_ happen frequently? Sighing, he pulled out a stack of yen recently liberated from the Higurashi shrine, and handed it to her.

A shark-like smirk took over Nabiki's face. She sauntered over to her father's bed, and whispered into his ear. "If you don't calm down, daddy, I'll ask Kasumi to let Akane cook for you tonight."

Soun bolted upright, his sorrow instantly replaced by panic and well-honed survival instincts. He whipped his head around the room frantically, checking to make sure his youngest daughter's terrible creations were already present.

He turned to his middle daughter, who was vacating the room at a leisurely pace. As she passed through the door, she turned her head, winked at Genma, and left.

Shaking his head, the Saotome man placed his hands on Soun's shoulders. "Tell me what happened, Tendo, all of it."

The mustached man gulped. "I will, but you're not going to like it."

He quickly explained what he had seen at the Hikawa shrine. He was a bit more stable now, but only because he could now share the horrific events with his friend. Genma, on the other hand, was growing increasing pale with each word.

By the time Soun reached the part where Nodoka referred to Ranma as 'daughter', His face had reached a shade of white matched only by a marble statue. The Tendo noticed that Genma seemed to be shaking uncontrollably.

"This is beyond bad." The Saotome croaked out. "I knew No-chan would follow the pact, but like this…" He trailed off… not needing to finish the thought. A sudden spasm rocked his body as something occurred to him.

He raced to Soun's closet, and began to dig through it like mad. The owner of the room peered over his shoulder. "Saotome?"

"I can't stay here!" Genma shouted. "She'll find me! I know she will!"

"What do you mean, Saotome?"

"She _knows_, Tendo, she knows! The boy knew where I was! I know No-chan. If she doesn't have the information from him by now, it won't be long!" He pulled out a travel bag, and began filling it with camping supplies from the closet. "She could even be on her way right now, intent on making me uphold the contract as well!"

He repressed the mental image of Nodoka, dressed in full kimono, setting him up to commit Seppuku. His child, now a girl attired just as her mother, held the honor sword as she watched. He shuddered; it was an image too horrible to behold.

Packing finished, Genma turned to his old friend. "I'm leaving on an immediate training trip!" He said, fear obvious in his eyes. "I need time to plan, and figure out how to rescue the boy from his mother."

Soun followed him through the house, to the front door. "Saotome! Take me with you!" The man declared as his daughters watched with amusement. "Your wife is a formidable foe, but if we work together, we can surely reclaim your son, and bring the schools together!" They clasped hands with one another, as if sealing yet another pact, before dashing out the front door into the unknown.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Minato, Tokyo.

"Ah man!" Ranma exclaimed, patting his stomach. "That cake was great!"

Usagi, who was standing next to him, mirrored his actions. "The ice cream was yummy, too!"

The remaining inhabitants of the house sighed. Two cakes and four gallons of ice cream, devoured by those two before they really had the chance to live. It was almost a shock that anyone else had managed to get any before the desserts had been consigned to oblivion.

Nodoka decided to break the silence, pulling a small wooden box out of her pocket. "Enough lazing around, you two." She said. "It's time for his presents!"

Her son perked up at the mention. "You guys got me presents?"

Ikuko and Kenji nodded, pulling a box between them. Usagi and Shingo darted up to their rooms, and returned a moment later with small parcels of their own.

They crowded around Ranma, trying to arrange a pattern to give the gifts to him. After a moment of decision, Shingo handed over the first present.

"I heard you liked martial arts, so I got you this." The ten-year-old boy said. Inside the packaging were the first few volumes of a generic fighting manga.

Ranma regarded the gift. He'd never had the chance to really read anything before, let alone manga. "Thanks." He said cheerily.

"Oh! Me next!" Usagi was jumping in place. She dashed over and handed him a small package. "I didn't know what you like, so I got you coupons for ice cream at the Fruits Parlor Crown!"

He gave a large smile. There were a lot of the coupons. "Thanks Usagi." He said, before pausing. "I don't know where the place is thought. I supposed I'll need a guide to tha' place. Ya' interested?" Usagi nodded her head excitedly.

Next were Ikuko and Kenji, with a combined gift. "Papa here," Ikuko said, nudging her husband with her elbow, "didn't have time to get his own present, so we though we'd share!" It was a plainly decorated wooden door sign, with the name 'Ranma' written across it. "Now everybody will know that your bedroom is truly yours."

He smiled at that. "Thank you, Auntie, Uncle." He said.

Nodoka cleared her throat, and handed him her present. It was an unwrapped wooden box with two black kanji pressed into the lid.

青山

"Aoyama?" Ranma said, reading the characters off the lid.

His mother nodded. "It's my family surname, from before I married your father." She replied. "Please, open it."

He nodded absently, and removed the lid. Inside, there was a long red braided tassle. Near the top of its length, there was a small yin-yang ornament. Below the ornament, the tassle split into two tails, ending with a decorative bell.

"It's a bit early to be giving you this," Nodoka began, pride evident in her voice, "But this is a Shinmei weapon tassle, the mark of a practitioner of the school. It is given to the student by their first instructor, and is meant to be attached to the hilt of whatever weapon you choose to wield."

Ranma looked to his mother, awe in his eyes. "You had this for me already?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, dear. I've had it ready for a long time. I've waited for the day that you returned home, so I could pass my art on to you, just as your father did." She gave him a hug.

* * *

The festivities didn't continue long after that. The parents discussed getting Ranma registered for school, while Usagi made plans to show him around the area, and introduce him to some of her friends. Far too soon, Ranma and Nodoka headed home.

Ranma slept very well that night, heartened by the many events of the day.

(A/N - I had wanted to make this chapter slightly longer, but tacking anything else to the end felt wrong.

No, Genma does not particularly care for silly things such as 'legally marriable age". He didn't in canon (In Japan, the groom has to be at least 18), so why should he here? Soun is just following along in his wake.

Those two are fun to write. I'll have to see if I can work some more scenes of them in before the next time the plot needs them.)


	5. Chapter Four: Semblance of a Normal Life

April 29, 1993 – Minato, Tokyo

For the fourth day in a row, the relative quiet of the morning was broken by the sounds of combat coming from the Saotome Dojo. Within, A currently-female Ranma and Nodoka clashed, their bokken moving at impossibly fast speeds.

While it looked as though the two combatants were evenly matched, it was obvious to the trained eye that the younger girl was on the defensive. She made to parry a strike from the older woman, only to find her bokken removed from her grasp.

Her mother backed off a few steps, before lowering her own blade. "Very good." She said, giving her an encouraging nod. "You held me off for ten full minutes this time; that's much better than your father ever managed."

The girl grinned at the thought. Nodoka walked grabbed two bottles of water. She tossed one of them to her daughter, before taking a swig from her own.

"We'll leave it there for now." Nodoka said. Ranma nodded, and began helping her clean up from their sparring session. Over the past few days, the Saotomes had fallen into a comfortable morning routine. They would wake up at 8:00, have a quick breakfast, and move into the dojo for training. The first hour or two would be spent training Ranma in his male form, before he would switch to female and repeat the previous training. Once they finished for the morning, they would clean the dojo, and head in for a larger meal.

They knew that, once Golden Week was over and Ranma started attending school, they would have to start their training sessions earlier. Ranma in particular wasn't fond of that though. Genma had never made her go, and the last one she had to attend, a boys school in Nakano ward, had not been the highlight of her life. At least Ryoga had been there to keep things interesting.

Yesterday, Nodoka had taken Ranma down to Juuban Municipal Junior High School to get him registered. He had done well enough on the placement tests to get into seventh grade, along with Usagi, but only just. At his mother's insistence, he had demonstrated his curse to the school administrative staff. They had told the Saotomes that they would need to have a staff meeting to decide how they would deal with Ranma's 'condition' before the end of Golden Week.

That was yesterday, of course. Today was Greenery Day, the first holiday of Golden Week, and Usagi had promised to show Ranma around the area.

Following their new morning tradition, when they left the Dojo, Nodoka went into the kitchen to make a post-training lunch, while Ranma went to change herself back to a boy in the furo.

* * *

Following lunch, Ranma headed off to meet up with Usagi. He had been let out for a short lunch between placement exams, and had made plans with Usagi. He was to meet her at her house, and together they would meet some of her friends at the Fruits Parlor Crown in the Juuban shopping district.

He had made sure to bring the coupons Usagi had given him two days before; what better a time to give them a 'test run' than to use them to bribe potential friends?

Beyond the coupons, his mother had also given him a 20,000-yen allowance. It was quite possibly the largest amount of money he had ever held at one time. If his father had been around, that money would have been converted into alcohol so fast, many would have accused Genma of being an alchemist.

When he arrived at his cousin's house, he didn't have to wait long. No sooner had he brought his finger towards the bell, the door flew open, and Usagi jumped out, filled with as much energy as ever.

"Hi Ranma-kun! Are you ready to go? I know I am!" She said, grabbing both of his hands and shaking them down.

He blinked. "H-hey Usagi-chan." The boy responded to her. He didn't get the chance to say anything else, before she decided the greeting counted as yes, and began to drag him towards the Juuban shopping center.

"Agh! Usagi! Wait a minute!" He sputtered, nearly tripping before he caught back up with her. 'Ya' don't have ta' drag me, ya'know."

She gave him a wide grin. "I know, it's just so _fun_ to see the you like that!" He grumbled at her, but she ignored him.

As they walked, the blond girl began telling him all about the friends she was going to be introducing him to.

"First is Naru-chan!" She said enthusiastically. "We've been best friends since elementary school! Her mom runs a jewelry shop in the shopping district. Maybe we can go later! Last time I was there, they had this really pretty necklace that I wanted to get, but I couldn't afford it because I had spent my allowance on ice cream and the arcade…" She continued to babble on.

Ranma sighed. "Usagi-chan, please?"

She gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry, sorry. Anyways, Naru-chan is a really nice girl. She's always kind to people and gets better grades than I do. She's got red hair and blue eyes."

"Next is Umino-kun. He's a bit weird; he wears really thick glasses, and is always popping out from the strangest places. His clothes are always too baggy for him, and he spends a lot of time on the Internet. Whenever Naru-chan and I are talking about something, he always pops up with some obscure information on them."

Ranma looked at her. "That _is_ a bit weird, isn't it? I wonder how he does that? Sounds like just tryin' ta' be helpful, though."

She snorted indignantly. "He's still weird."

The boy gave her a flat look. "Ya' still hang out with him, don't ya'?"

She gave a non-committal grumble, but switched back to her normal, hyper self seconds later. "Ok, then we have Yumiko-chan, Kuri-chan, and Mayumi-chan. Yumiko-chan and Kuri-chan are good friends, and always hang out together like Naru-chan and I do. Mayumi-chan is nice, but likes food more that it likes her."

By this point, they had arrived on the proper street. Usagi pointed the store out. It was a multi-story street front store, with an Arcade at street level, and a café on the floor above. "We're meeting my friends in the parlor on the second floor." She said, leading him inside.

A little beyond the doors, a tall, blond man was helping a middle-school boy at one of the game machines. He turned around at the sound of the doors opening. "Motoki-onii-san!" Usagi cried happily, running over to him.

The man waved at her. "Yo, Usagi-san! We got a new racing game the other day. Are you here to try it?"

Usagi looked around the arcade with excitement. "A new game! Where?" Ranma gave a light cough, causing her to glace over at him. She paused for a moment, as if stuck weighing two options, before sighing. "No, I'm bringing my cousin to meet some of my friends."

Motoki suddenly noticed the boy standing behind her. "Oh? I've never seen you around before. You're Usagi-san's cousin?"

The boy gave a nod. "Yup. I just moved back in with mom tha' other day."

He nodded in return. "Well, it's good to meet friends of Usagi-san. Many of them end up being regular patrons here." Motoki gave a good-natured chuckle. "I'm Furuhata Motoki, by the way. My parents run the Crown."

"I'm Saotome Ranma." The boy gave in response.

Motoki turned back to Usagi. "Sorry to hold you up, Usagi-san. If you're free next time, I can show you some of the tricks for that new game."

A blush worked its way across the girl's face. "Motoki-onii-san…"

Wandering off with a laugh, Motoki pointed up the stairs. "Go on, you two. Don't keep your friends waiting now."

"Yes sir!" Usagi said, falling into a mock salute. She grabbed Ranma's arm, and began to drag him up the narrow staircase.

"So…" Ranma drawled, his trademark smirk falling into place. "That your boyfriend?"

She pouted a bit. "I want him to be." She let out a long sigh. "But I just don't know how to get him…"

A fist suddenly rapped the morose girl on head. "Sheesh, Usagi-chan, are you pining after Motoki _again_?" The redheaded owner of the fist asked.

"Naru-chan!" Usagi said, turning to the table she had just dragged Ranma past. A table currently inhabited by the friends she was here to meet.

"Usagi-chan! I know you like Motoki, but you can't just space out like that." The girl, Naru, admonished. "Seriously, a girl like you should be more attentive!" A few of the girls at the table behind her nodded.

"Eh he he…" Usagi gave a shaky laugh, scratching the back on her head. Then she looked at the people sitting at the table. "Huh? Where's Umino-kun?"

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Usagi turned around to see a boy with coke-bottle glasses and a wide, vacant grin standing behind her. "Hi Usagi." He said.

Usagi jolted back in surprise. "U-umino…" She grumbled, eyelid twitching.

While the girls at the table laughed at the usual antics, Naru turned Ranma, and gave him an apologetic look. "Usagi," the redhead said, grabbing her attention, "Are you going to introduce your cousin, or what?"

Usagi slammed a fist into her open hand. "Oh right! Everyone, this is my cousin,"

"Saotome Ranma" Her cousin finished for her.

"It's good to meet you, Saotome-san. I'm Osaka Naru." She said.

The glasses-wearing boy suddenly appeared in front of him. "I'm Umino Gurio." He said. It looked like he wanted to ask Ranma some questions, but the girls at the table cut him off as introductions continued.

A girl with long, black-brown hair introduced herself as Nanba Yumiko. The girl beside her with short-ish pale black hair was introduced as Kamiyama Kuri, and the last one, a slightly pudgy girl with short curly auburn hair, was Nakaya Mayumi.

Almost as soon as the introductions were out of the way, a waitress came by to the their orders. Ranma, seeing the opportunity, offered to use some of the coupons he had been given to pay for the group's treats. Knowing that, everyone quickly ordered, any thoughts of empty wallets forgotten.

And then, the questions began.

"So, Saotome-san," Umino asked, adjusting his glasses, "What exactly is it you do? You look like you're in great shape." Maybe he could get some good information on Usagi's cousin.

"I'm a martial artist." He said, puffing his chest out with pride. Usagi giggled at the sight.

Umino nodded, taking notes. "What style do you practice, and for how long?"

The boy continued. "I practice Saotome Anything Goes. I've been training for at least six to ten hours every day for the last eight years."

"How did you go to school, then?" Umino asked. This boy was intriguing.

Ranma shrugged. "I didn't. Pops only sent me when we got in trouble with the local truant officers."

One of the girls, Kuri, gaped at him. "You never went to school? How did you learn anything? How did you make friends?"

He sighed. "I didn't."

Another girl, Yumiko, responded. "You didn't what? Learn, or make friends?"

"Both."

The too girls went silent, not quite sure how to respond to that.

Ranma, seeing that they were speechless for the moment, decided to continue. "Pops didn't really like me learnin' stuff outside of tha' Art. He made sure I could do the basics, like read, write, and that kinda stuff, but anythin' else I needed to learn when he wasn't around. We also moved around too much for me ta' really set down roots and make friends. In fact, I only really had one or two."

The table descended into an awkward silence as he resumed his frozen treat. Nobody was quite sure how to respond to that.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

The rest of the day was much less morose. Usagi had brightened up after ordering yet another ice cream, and her infectious glee had improved everyone else's mood. The other girls had quickly decided that Ranma needed a crash-course in social interaction, and dragged him an Umino around the town.

Contrary to the last few times he had met someone new, it actually took a few hours for Usagi's friends to be introduced to Ranma's curse. Needless to say, they had been surprised after an incident near a bathhouse involving a chicken, a naked otaku, and a fishbowl full of custard and jellybeans had left their newest friend wet, annoyed, and female.

They had been slightly put-off by the curse, until Usagi had managed to explain that Ranma was just a victim of circumstance, and his father was to blame. After that, they became rather sympathetic to his problem.

As the day came to an end, the group slowly went their separate ways. Before he left, Umino promised to introduce Ranma to some of the school's male population at a later date. Eventually, only Ranma and Usagi were left, splitting up only once they reached Usagi's house.

The next few days went about the same. Ranma and his mother would get up early to spar and have breakfast, and then he would meet with Usagi and her friends. On Saturday night, he and his mother had dinner with the Mizuno family, where he got the chance to meet Saeko's daughter, Ami. On Sunday, he and Umino broke from the group early to meet a few of the nerdy boy's friends.

Monday was a slight break from the pattern. Nodoka excused herself after breakfast; she had been hired to perform an exorcism on some old annex for an inn near Sagami bay, and would be gone for most of the day.

With his newfound friends busy, he spent the day around the house. He spent a few hours practicing the sword forms and Ki exercises his mother had taught him, as well as some of his standard Anything Goes katas, and familiarized himself with the television in the living room.

Tuesday, he finally heard back from the school. They wanted him to attend as male, but relaxed the uniform code slightly, giving him a dress code instead. When he and his mother went shopping later that day, he managed to find a set of black-on-black silks that were acceptable to wear to school.

Wednesday, the last day of Golden Week, his mother declared him ready to begin learning Shinmei-ryu. They spent the entire day training him in the basics, but by dinner, Nodoka was please by his progress. She handed him an extremely well crafted Nodachi-bokken, and made him promise to carry it with him until she gave him the real deal. He accepted it happily.

Sleep came late to the boy that night, despite knowing he needed to rest; tomorrow he began school.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Thursday, May 6 – Minato, Tokyo

"You'll be fine, sweetie." Nodoka tried to reassure her son as she served breakfast. She had called their training off a bit early; Ranma needed to be at school early enough for basic orientation.

Ranma was not looking very happy. He was dressed in his preferred Chinese silks, this set black with silver accents. They were tighter than he was used to, but that was because they were tailored to his specific frame, not picked off a rack like his late pair.

He was also groaning at the though of going to school. For all the shit his father had done to him, at least he had been merciful enough to spare him from this torture whenever he was able to.

Nodoka, on the other had, was adamant about him attending. She hadn't seen any value in trying to convince him to go on his own accord; she had instead made it clear that he was to go and try his hardest, or there would be… _consequences_. His mother hadn't gone into details, but she had made some insinuations that made the young boy blanch.

Thirteen years old or not, Ranma was not feeling particularly rebellious after hearing his mother mutter something about 'marrying off her uneducated daughter'.

His mother was getting a bit worried, though. She had been doing _such_ a good job following Saeko's advice, trying to be supportive of her son, but when he had started complaining about school, she hadn't been able to resist slipping into authoritarian mode. Now Ranma was clearly unhappy with the situation, and she didn't know what to do.

She had really worked herself into a corner, here. On the one hand, if she continued to insist so hard on him attending school, she risked driving a wedge between them. On the other had, if she let off on the school issue, she risked coming across a weak with discipline.

Gods, she wished parenting wasn't so hard. Why couldn't it present her problems that could be solved at sword-point?

Ranma worked his way through the meal at a visible pace. He knew that he really shouldn't be complaining about the school issue; after all, all children his age went, and it was a good place to meet new people, if nothing else. Besides, his mother had been so understanding and supportive to him so far, he felt that he at least owed her to try.

He sighed as he finished breakfast, knowing he should really be going. Nodoka took his plate from him and handed him a bento as he grabbed both his new schoolbag and the carrying case for his bokken (Nodoka had given him a canvas bag like her own for the purpose, although it was sized for the real one he should be getting in a few months).

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Usagi, of all people, about to knock on the door. She looked like had just been dragged out of bed, which being her, was a distinct possibility.

"G'mornin', 'Sagi." He said, suppressing a grin. He knew by now that the blond girl was loathe to wake up even in time for school, much less close to an hour beforehand.

She gave a semi-coherent blink. "Murnnin, R'nnma…" Was all she managed to get out in response.

Ranma jumped up onto the outer wall of the Saotome compound, and began walking alongside the street. Usagi dragged herself like a zombie on the sidewalk below.

"It's really odd to see ya' up this early, 'Sagi." He commented.

The girl gave a low groan. "Mama woke me up early this morning. She wanted me to take you to your first day of school."

Her cousin snorted. "That's real nice of her, but it's not like I don't know tha' way. I was there last week." He hopped from the compound wall across the intersection to a chain-link fence on the other side.

Usagi spent the rest of the walk complaining about it being so early. When they arrived at the school, only a few students had already arrived, Naru among them.

The redhead boggled at the sight of her odango-haired friend arriving well before the late bell.

"U-usagi-chan?" She stammered out, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. "G-good morning. How are you hear this early?"

The now much more awake blond pouted. "Do you have to act like it's a surprise? I can get up early any time I want!

Naru gave her a skeptical look. "Then why don't you?"

"Because I like to sleep!"

Ranma shook his head and began walking towards the office. "See ya' later, 'Sagi." He said as he departed.

He went to the administration office, and waited outside the guidance counselor's room, before the woman, rather short with close-cropped brown hair, opened the door and ushered the boy in. She quickly reviewed his files, and gave him a schedule, before asking him to follow her to his new classroom.

As they walked, the woman spoke up. "Saotome-san, before we arrive at you homeroom, there are a few things you should know."

He looked at her. "What kinda things?"

The guidance counselor faced him, giving the boy a neutral look. "The faculty of the school understands that your condition may make some things at school hard, but they've asked me to tell you that since it will not affect any of the school curriculum, you are considered a male student, and are expected to act like one. That means no abusing your condition to enter female-only areas. Is that understood?"

The boy nodded. "Good." She said. The walked a few more steps before her expression lightened up. "Just be glad we don't have swimming facilities here. I imagine their ruling may have ended up being quite the opposite." She giggled at the look of horror on the child's face.

They arrived at the door to the classroom, but she had one last thing to say. "Remember," the counselor said, turning to him, "we're not going to make you reveal your condition if you don't want to. If you do have problems with it, though, my office is always open." She knocked at the door. "Sakurada-sensei, your new student is here!"

The classroom door slid open, and a woman with long, wavy brown hair ushered him inside. He took a position next to the teacher's desk, as she introduced him.

"Attention, class." She said. "We have a new student today. His name is Saotome Ranma, and he recently returned to the area." The teacher turned to him. "Do you want to tell them anything about yourself?"

He shrugged. "I've been runnin' around Asia studyin' Martial Arts for the last eight or nine years. Tsukino Usagi is my cousin, that's 'bout it, really."

The teacher, who had flinched the realization that the new student was related to her class shame, pointed to an empty desk. "Well then, there seems to be a seat open next to your cousin."

Ranma walked back a few rows to where Usagi was sitting. She gave him a wave, before the teacher started her lesson. Usagi began nodding off rather quickly, but Ranma did his best to pay attention. Unlike the last time he had been at school, he didn't have his father beating all the energy out of him. This meant he didn't need to use class time to catch up on missed sleep.

It didn't make the curriculum any more engaging, though. It wasn't like he couldn't already speak English, after all.

* * *

Sakurada Haruna was feeling much better about her new student than when he had first arrived in the room earlier. Like all of the faculty, she had been given a heads-up about his… unique condition. Combined with the added knowledge that he was a relative on Usagi, she had assumed he would be trouble.

While he wasn't the most attentive person in the room, it was obvious he wasn't just flat-out ignoring her or sleeping like others had. He seemed bored, and after she had directed several questions to him, she had a good idea why. He already spoke English.

Based on how he had answered the questions, and his entrance exam results, it was obvious that he had learned via exposure; he could speak and translate quite well, but he was next to clueless about many of the technical aspects of the language, which comprised more than a little of the questions given on a test.

She decided to get a bit more information. "Mr. Saotome," She said, switching over to English, "Where exactly did you learn to speak the language?"

"A few years ago, dad and I spent some time training down in Okinawa." He responded, also in English. "He got some of the instructors at the US military base there to give me some training. I still don't know how he got them to do it."

The rest of the class watched the new student converse with Sakurada-sensei in English. Only two of the other students could understand what they were saying.

Haruna dropped off the conversation. She had confirmed her earlier suspicions. The Saotome child would need some help with the technical parts of the language, but she could probably move him into her advanced study-group pretty soon, assuming he was willing to learn.

* * *

When lunch finally came, Usagi came over to his desk. "Ranma, we're going to be eating under one of the trees in the back." She said, indicating to her group of friends.

Ranma nodded, grabbing up his bag and bokken case. They joined the small group leaving the room.

As they left, he eyed some of the other students. During the first break between classes, they had swarmed his desk, asking him all kinds of questions about his life. Some of the girls had even asked if he was available.

Needless to say, he made sure to hurry over to Usagi's desk for the breaks afterwards.

The group took the long route to their lunch spot, giving Ranma a tour of the school. They were forced to pause twice when water found the boy; once a broken water fountain, and another when a careless student baled a bucket out a third-story window.

Eventually, they made it to the tree. Ranma and Usagi immediately set to the task of clearing out their bento as quickly as possible, while the rest of the group watched in awe.

Naru looked around the yard. She could see a few other groups of students watching Usagi and Ranma eat at inhuman speeds. She noted that some of them seemed to be appraising the boy.

Of course, those were the sports clubs. It looked like the martial arts and kendo clubs in particular were paying close attention to him. Not that it was a big surprise, he had announced himself as a martial artist earlier, and carried a bokken around. Of course he was going to attract attention from those clubs.

"Ranma," She decided to ask, "what clubs to you plan on joining?"

He stopped eating to give her a funny look. "Clubs?" He asked.

She blinked. "Yeah, you know, school clubs?"

The boy tilted his head to the side, absently knocking Usagi's chopsticks away from his bento. "No, I don't know. They have clubs at school?"

Naru couldn't help but groan. 'Of course he wouldn't know something like this.' She though. "Yes, they do. There are clubs for just about everything I've seen you show an interest in."

He looked thoughtful at her quick, exasperated explanation, and turned to his cousin. "'Sagi, are you in a club?" He asked.

"I'm in the go-home club!" She announced with pride.

"That means no she isn't in one." Yumiko added helpfully.

Kuri turned to the pigtailed boy. "Ranma-kun, if you're interested, you really should check out the martial arts or kendo club. They seem interested enough in you, after all." She and Naru indicated at the aforementioned groups.

He shrugged. "Eh, I suppose I can. It's not like it's wrong ta' check them out, right?"

The girls nodded in agreement, and he got back to his lunch.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Nerima, Tokyo.

At Furinkan High School, the day had come to an end. Tendo Kasumi, second year, wandered away from the shoe rack slowly. Things had been quiet at the Tendo residence since the sudden departure of her father and Saotome-san. She had to admit, it was nice to not have to clean up father's sake bottles.

It was also nice not having to worry about her father being overprotective of her. She had gotten a few letters in her shoe locker today, and, unlike the last few times, she might actually be able to act on them. He had longed for chance to got on a date, but her father had always been so pitiful in his attempts to dissuade her…

She shook her head of the thoughts. Father wasn't here right now, and Takeshi-kun from class 2-F was rather easy on the eyes. Surely Akane and Nabiki could take care of themselves for an evening.

As she crossed the yard, she noticed something strange. A boy about the age of Akane, wearing a yellow shirt with a bandanna, who was wandering around outside of the school gates.

Being ever so helpful, she decided to approach him. "Excuse me," she said, announcing her presence, "I can't help but notice that you seem lost."

The boy turned to her, glaring. "I'm not lost! I was just given bad directions!" He vigorously claimed. When he saw that she was still giving him and disarmingly bright smile, he turned his head to the side, to avoid her look. "Ah, do you know where Furinkan Junior High School is?"

She continued to smile. "Of course. My little sisters attend there. Are you looking for a friend?"

"Ranma's not my friend!" The boy snarled.

"Oh my, you wouldn't happen to mean Saotome Ranma, would you?" She responded to his outburst,

His eyes widened. "You know where that coward is hiding?"

Kasumi frowned. "I'm not sure if Saotome-san is a coward, but I'm afraid he doesn't attend Furinkan Junior High."

"What? But that fortune-teller _swore_ he was going there!" He angrily looked to the sky. "Damn you, Ranma! You're not going to get away!"

Before he could leave, Kasumi gave a polite cough. "According to my father, he ran into Saotome-san in Minato ward. I'm sorry I cannot be of more help than that."

The boy gave her an appreciative look. "Thanks!" He said, running off without another word. Kasumi didn't even get the chance to tell him he was running the wrong direction.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Minato, Tokyo

When Ranma arrived home, he was in a fairly good mood. School had been rather boring, but he didn't feel as if it was too much of a hardship. At least he got enough sleep to stay awake during class. He'd much rather be home training, of course, but as long as his mother was insistent on him attending, he'd try to make the best of it.

After all, it was a new challenge, and if nothing else, Ranma always took challenges seriously.

"Mom? I'm home!" He called as he entered the house. Hearing nothing, he went in to the kitchen. On the counter, there was a note.

_Ranma, I'm out bringing food to some students living on their own. I'll be back in a few hours. Please finish your homework before I return so we can spar._

_-Mom._

He got himself a snack, and went up to his room. It wasn't like they had given him much in the way of homework for the first day, so he might as well get it out of the way now.

* * *

Nodoka felt pleased with herself as she returned home. In the years her family was gone, she had taken to helping out some of the local orphan students in the area. It had surprised her how the social services could overlook some of these cases.

The two she had taken upon herself to help tonight were prime examples of this. The older of the two, Chiba Mamoru, had been living on his own since he was 13. After his parents died in a car crash, he had no living relatives, and was sent to an orphanage, yet eventually, they just… let him off to live on his own, no explanation ever given.

The same was true for the other child, Kino Makoto. Her parents had been killed in an airplane crash, and she had gone to live with an uncle in Nerima. Yet, she had ended up living on her own just a few months ago. When Nodoka had asked her why she had chosen to live on her own, Makoto had told her that her uncle was never around anyways, and after she had hospitalized the son of one of the High School principals for refusing to leave her alone after she rejected his advances, she had been expelled, and none of the schools in the ward had been willing to take her, fearing the reputation of the boy's family.

Ever since she had first met them, Nodoka had made sure to check up on them once every week or two. She had even offered to let them stay at her house, but both had politely declined the offer.

Their refusal had saddened her, at the time. She had wanted someone to help fight off the encroaching loneliness of the empty house. Making food for them and providing support certainly helped, though.

She would have to take Ranma with her, next time. He would probably like Makoto.

Nodoka entered the Saotome compound, noting the sound of math-related cursing emanating from upstairs. It seemed that they would not be sparring quite yet.

She leisurely wandered up the stairs, an amused smirk on her face. Ranma's door was open, the boy hunched over his desk. A few pads of balled-up scratch paper littered the floor around him. The boy turned his head to face her as she walked over to him, taking a look at what he was doing. She frowned. It may have been a while since she had taken a math class, but even she could tell he was rather far off-course.

"Son," She said, "as happy as I am that you're taking your schoolwork seriously, it _may_ be helpful to consult your textbook once in a while."

The boy looked at her, wide-eyed. "You know this stuff?" he asked.

Nodoka shook her head. "No dear, I haven't done arithmetic math in years. It's just that easy to tell you're doing it wrong." She pointed to a random equation. "For example, I couldn't even begin to tell you the answer to this problem, but I can tell you that you've got your order of operations completely backwards."

Ranma blinked, looking down at the paper, then turned is head to her. "Order of operations?"

The woman sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I think I'll just call Ami over. I don't think she has Juku tonight."

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

"Cheer up Ranma." Usagi said to him as they walked to school the next day. "I always have problems with my homework!"

He grumbled incoherently. It was bad enough that he hadn't been able to do the math on his own; having to miss training because he was being tutored just made it worse.

Ranma had always considered himself an independent person, with his father around, if he wasn't able to do something for himself, it wouldn't get done. When he had last been at a school, the math wasn't too hard. But, in the year or so he had been out of school, the difficulty curve for the curriculum had tightened. It was no longer something he could work out himself, and he hated it.

At the very least, Ami's instruction had been helpful. The embarrassment he had felt over not being able to solve it himself had made the buy pay attention to her, and by the time his mother had finished cooking dinner, he was starting to get a good grasp on the material. He had still found the homework hard, but it was at least do-able.

What annoyed him more was that he couldn't figure out a good way to turn the math work into an extreme training exercise. He probably could have learned all of the math Ami could teach within days if he had.

He neglected to remind himself of the condition he was normally in after such attempts, though.

* * *

School that day passed quickly. Sakurada-sensei was shocked to see Usagi arrive on time two days in a row, his cousin got sent into the hall for falling asleep in class, his curse was nearly outed when a water-pipe broke above the desk two seats in front of him, things like that.

The last class of the day was different that yesterday, of course. Today, they had physical education. Ranma was pleasantly surprised to find the coach waiting for him at the entrance to the locker room.

"Saotome-kun." The teacher spoke up. "Due to your condition, the school has decided that you are not to use the locker rooms." He gave a quick glance over the boy. "Do you need to change for class?"

The pigtailed boy shrugged. "Nah, I always tend ta' fight in clothes like these. That's why I got them." The instructor pointed him towards the door to the track area.

He only had to wait a few minutes before the other students began filing out of their respective locker rooms. The boys of the class, sans Umino, asked him why it was that he didn't change for class. He just shrugged and told them he didn't need to.

Class began with the boys taking a lap of the track. Ranma maintained a steady pace at the front of the group. It wasn't particularly challenging for him. As he ran, a few upperclassmen from the athletic clubs watched him from their classrooms. The new boy had been a topic of great interest among them, particularly the martial arts and kendo clubs. So great, in fact, that the only reason he hadn't been approached yet was because the club representatives kept fighting over him every time they tried.

As the class progressed, the club members became increasingly focused on watching his every move. More than a few had been sent into the hall when they abandoned all pretenses of paying attention and went to the window.

Usagi was rather impressed. While she and her friends were waiting for their turn on the equipment the girls were using, she was watching Ranma lazily perform inhumanly skilled acrobatics on the bars the boys were using. Apparently the other boys in the class were, also. They were clapping at his display, while the gym teacher looked on in awe.

Her friends just looked on blankly. "Usagi?" Yumiko asked. "Are you sure your cousin is, uh, human?" Kuri and Mayumi gave her a look that said they were wondering the same. "Because between that and his 'curse', I'm seriously starting to doubt he is."

The blond girl laughed. "Come on, Miko-chan, of course he's human. Auntie Nodoka told me before that they can do stuff like that because they use their ki." She paused. "Besides, who's ever heard of gender-changing aliens before? That's just silly!"

* * *

Somewhere, in the depths of space, three women dressed in skimpy leather-like uniforms sneezed. One of them, with green eyes and white hair, wiped off the control console of the small, beaten-up ship they were currently occupying.

"What was that about?" She asked.

Another, with black hair, grumbled as she rubbed her nose. "You've got me."

* * *

Her friend shook her head. "I suppose, Usagi-chan."

"Still, though." Naru spoke up. "I never though people could do things like that outside of boys manga."

Mayumi looked at her. "And how would _you_ know that, Naru-chan?" She asked. "Have you been borrowing Umino-kun's manga?"

She got a slight flush out of that. "Of course not!" Naru denied.

Kuri and Mayumi both smirked. "Sure you haven't." Kuri said. "After all, the only reason a girl like you would do that is for an excuse to see him." She grinned as the flush grew a bit. "And we _know_ that you don't like Umino-kun, right?"

The redhead was saved from further humiliation by the girl's coach, who called Naru up to the springboard.

* * *

They were after him. He could feel their eyes on him. It didn't matter that he had shifted into the middle of the crowd. It didn't matter that he was accompanied by Usagi. They were still following him.

These club guys were really starting to give him the creeps. He was always proud of his physical prowess, but this kind of attention was just offsetting. They weren't even able to hide their infighting anymore, either; the last one had broken out in front of him when the soccer club and the judo club both approached him at the same time.

Before, he had been somewhat interested in looking into some of the clubs, just to see what level some of the participants, but now, he was of half a mind to just up and ignore them.

If they would leave him alone, that is.

As he swapped shoes at the lockers, he glanced around to see if they were still on his case. Sure enough, the boy quickly spotted a few of the representatives he had seen before, as well as a few that were making an obvious attempt to reach him.

Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Ranma flipped himself up on top of the shoe locker, and made a hasty retreat. The boys following him began to run, shoving their way through the crowd.

One of the boys tried to block the exit, much to the chagrin of the other students, but was too slow. The young Saotome was out the door before it could be blocked.

Usagi and her friends looked on in amusement as forty boys from various athletic clubs pushed their ways through the doors. A few members of the track team that had been waiting outside took up the chase, but they were foiled when Ranma jumped into a tree, and then out of the schoolyard.

The boys looked among themselves, before one of them spoke up. "What are you waiting for, fools? After him!"

Ranma was still close enough to be able to hear them. This was getting out of hand. How had it come to this? All he had done was show a bit of his athletic talent, and suddenly, half the boys in the school were chasing him down!

He needed to disappear. Fortunately, he had a perfect disguise that was know by almost everyone who could help him, and cold water wasn't particularly hard to find.

There! On the second floor, there was a fire bucket in the window. Without hesitation, he vaulted back into the schoolyard, and overturned the bucket on his head. She wiped the water off of her shirt as she heard the other boys run past the dividing wall. Good, so they hadn't seen her re-enter the compound.

The girl was in no mood to waste time. She quickly made her way across the schoolyard, in the opposite direction of the sports boys. Without thinking, she vaulted a fence into the athletic fields. The pigtailed girl had hardly made it a few steps beyond, when she heard someone call behind her.

"Hey, you!" It was a girl, from the sound of it. Slowly, Ranma turned to see who had spoken. On the other side of the fence she had just vaulted, there were four girls, all carrying duffle bags. They were obviously from one of the girl's athletic clubs.

The lead girl, with brown hair running down her back, vaulted over the fence as well. She wasn't as fast or as graceful over the ten-foot divider as Ranma was, but the currently-girl could see that she was quite skilled. Without hesitation, the other girl walked up to her and started looking Ranma over.

She scowled. "You. What club are you in?"

Ranma began to sweat. Something in the back of her head told her that she wasn't going to like where this conversation was going. "Ah, none?" She responded, surprised.

Almost immediately, the girl gave a chilling smile. "Well, how lucky." She turned to her companions on the other side of the fence, about to command them to drag this new girl along with them, when another group of girls hurried out of the building.

"Hey! Nishikawa!" The leader of the new group called. "No poaching!" She pointed at Ranma. "We're claiming this girl in the name of the Gymnastics club!"

The Fence-jumper-girl, Nishikawa, laughed. "Hardly! The Volleyball team saw her first! She's coming with us!" The Volleyball captain turned to her, a sinister smile plastered across her face. "Right, Pigtail-chan?"

Ranma was feeling incredibly uncomfortable now. 'Only I'd be able to get myself into a situation like this.' She thought ruefully.

Suddenly, a third group of girls approached the athletic fields. Ranma began slowly backing away. Unfortunately, one of the new arrivals pointed her out. "Hey, out new basketball player is trying to escape!"

All of the girls turned to face her. "Quit trying to back away." Nishikawa growled threateningly. "You're not just going to abandon the Volleyball team like that, are you?"

The other groups looked indignant. "No way! She's with us!"

"No, she's with _us_!"

Before their argument could devolve into an out-and-out brawl, the guidance counselor, who had been walking towards the gates, noticed a fight brewing. With a grumble, she hurried over to see what she could do.

Twelve-odd sports girls saw her walking over with annoyance. One part-time girl saw her with a mix of relief and apprehension. She had been too stunned by the forwardness of Nishikawa and the others to even contemplate using the Saotome Secret Technique to get out of dodge.

"What is going on here?" The brown-haired woman inquired, hands on her hips. "You girls know the rules! No fighting on the school grounds!" She spotted Ranma once again backing away from the group. "Saotome-san! She barked at the black-haired girl. "What did I tell you this morning!?"

'Ah man,' The pigtailed girl though, 'I'm gonna get it now.' "I'm…"

"No excuses!" She stared the younger girl down. "You're not allowed to be joining sports clubs, and you know it!"

It took Ranma a moment to process what she had said. She looked at the teacher in shock. The other girls looked between them in shock. When the other girls were focused on Ranma, she saw the teacher wink.

Nishikawa wasn't having any of it. "But Kugimiya-sensei!" She began, only to be interrupted.

"Due to certain conditions surrounding… her... admission to the school, Saotome-san is disallowed from participating in athletic clubs." She saw that the Volleyball captain was about to speak up again. "The decision was handed down by the school board, not by me."

Fuming, Nishikawa stormed away. She turned back to give them a glare, and went back inside the school building. Slowly, the other girls left, until only Ranma and Kugimiya-sensei remained.

The young Saotome let out a sigh of relief. "I'm saved." She said.

Kugimiya-sensei chuckled. "Don't feel too bad, Saotome-kun. Nishikawa's been a troublemaker for the last two years. This isn't the first time I've dissuaded her from pressing new students onto the volleyball team."

The other girl just shook her head. "I didn't know how I was gonna get out of that one. It was bad enough with the boys teams, but havin' the girls after me too?" She winced at the thought.

"I heard about the boys." The teacher said, her voice filled with curiosity. "Did they really try to chase you all the way to the shopping center?"

She received a snort in reply. "Probably. I just hopped back over tha' fence and splashed myself before they caught up with me. Maybe they did."

The teacher shook her head. "Well, for what it's worth, you _aren't_ actually allowed to join any of the sports teams, so they're chasing you for nothing."

Surprised, Ranma looked up at her. "What? Why?"

Kugimiya-sensei shook her head. "Your gym teacher was supposed to tell you, but with your condition, you're not supposed to be using any of the locker rooms unless absolutely necessary." The girl nodded, she remembered the encounter with her gym teacher earlier.

Without much more to say, Ranma and Kugimiya-sensei went their separate ways a little later. The teacher rolled her eyes as she though about what little she had seen of the strange new student. 'If nothing else,' she though, 'life won't be boring around here as long as he's around.'

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Night began to fall on a forest somewhere in central Japan. While most were settling down in their homes, a young boy with was pitching his tent, grumbling about the injustices laid upon him by one Saotome Ranma.

"Gone to Minato ward, has he? The coward!" Hibiki Ryoga spat. "Ranma, do you think you can hide from my vengeance on the far side of Japan!?"

Needless to say, his directional skills still needed work.

Ryoga built himself a fire once his tent was up, and heated some canned food he carried in his pack. The boy had no plans to stay up late, only to get food and rest so he could continue his hunt early the next day.

He settled down into his sleeping bag, slowly letting go of his hatred. His dreams would soon come to him, beautiful and unmarred by petty grudges and arrogant rivals. Tomorrow, he would continue to chase Ranma.

Tonight, he would find peace in his dreams.

* * *

A/N: I'm not particularly happy with how this chapter turned out, but after four complete revisions, I just want to get to the meat-and-bones of the story, starting next chapter. Ryoga is on his way to Minato, eventually.

For Usagi's friends, Yumiko and Kuri were given personal names in canon, but not family names. Mayumi, an anime-only character, was not even named. I borrowed the family names of the first two's voice actors in the anime, and the given name for Mayumi. Her family name comes from another character played by the same woman.

Ranma can speak english in this version, but still did poorly on the placement exam covering it. This is because he was taught by exposure, like most native speakers are, so he can speak it just fine, but wouldn't be able to give you an example of an English participle if his life depended on it, because he wasn't taught "These are verbs, these are nouns" like you would see in a classroom. It does mean he'll pick up on that kind of thing faster, though.

In at least one translation of the Ranma manga, Ryoga's house is 'in a different district' than the story takes place. Although this could mean another neighborhood besides Furinkan, I take it to mean another ward than Nerima, hence him attending school in Nakano ward.

April 29, the first day of Golden Week, was called Greenery Day during the period in which this fanfic takes place. It was changed to Showa Day in 2007.

In canon, Ranma never wore a school uniform outside of using it for pranks. Juuban junior high is stricter about uniform code than Furinkan high, but they still understand that Ranma has a unique condition, and thus came to their compromise. The same for the locker room issue. They know that Ranma was originally, and still normally is, a boy, but they still know that letting in into the changing rooms could cause... interesting problems, even without showers (which are not a standard fixture in Japanese school locker rooms).

As Kopakanuyafan20 guessed, Nodoka does have a connection to Makoto. Is there a reason she has a connection to all of the inner senshi (including Mamoru), or is it something more sinister?

Next time, Ryoga appears? The first Saotome Shinmei training trip commences!


	6. Chapter Five: Where the hell am I now?

May 15, 1993 – Nishitama, Tokyo

The mountains surrounding the town of Okutama, in the westernmost end of Tokyo prefecture, were Saotome Nodoka's preferred place to take a training trip. Over the years, she had claimed several points in the area as 'hers', leaving a small cleared area and shattered stones around as markers.

It was at just such a place that she and her son had set up for the weekend. They had arrived last night, as it was just starting to get dark, so they wouldn't have to waste the next morning traveling there.

Currently, The Saotomes were in a small clearing by a cliff, Nodoka standing, while Ranma sat to the side. The woman was demonstrating the proper technique for using some of the Shinmei esoteric abilities, as her son looked on, carefully analyzing everything she did.

Nodoka fell into hassō stance, making sure Ranma was watching. She stood there for a moment, charging her Nodachi with ki, before tilting the blade to a horizontal position, the blade facing out. Then, she cried out "Zankuusen!", carrying the blade through a straight slash across her torso. The air slashed by the blade blurred, and the trunk of a tree on the other side of the field shattered.

Turning back to Ranma, she began her lecture. "Zankuusen is one of the Shinmei basic esoteric techniques." The woman explained. "It uses a ki-charged slash to send a forward air-pressure wave at the target."

The boy nodded. "What's tha' range of it?" He asked.

"The effective range is twenty-five to thirty meters, although it can still affect targets as far as fifty meters away." She replied.

Again, a nod. "How do ya' aim it?"

His mother brought her sword back into the first step, and began repeating the move in slow motion. "You start by charging the blade with ki in hassō. This is to properly align the ki with the proper element." She shifted to the second step. "Then, you bring the blade to the side, to prepare the slash." Nodoka pointed at the base of the blade itself. "At this point, most of the ki should be focused just above the tsuba."

She began a slow slash. "As you bring the sword across your body, spread the charge across the blade, while moving the focus closer to the tip." The blade stopped moving about fifteen degrees short of being perpendicular to her chest. "By the time the sword is in this position, the tip of the blade should be the focus. Once it is, you flare the ki-charge until you reach the center of the torso. This is what causes the air-pressure wave."

Nodoka brought herself out of the demonstration. "You can increase the width of the pressure wave by bringing the focus, and the flare, to an earlier point, but it you will need a larger charge on the blade, or the wave will be weakened."

"Now, you try." Ranma stood up, and grabbed his bokken.

* * *

"Damn you, Ranma!" Ryoga cursed as he made his way through the underbrush. Last night, his camp had been attacked by a wild boar. He had managed to fight the beast off, but in the ensuing carnage, his tent, sleeping bag, and the bulk of his rations had been ruined. As a result, he had gotten no sleep as he sought a town to replace his gear.

It was bad enough that Ranma had run off from their man-to-man fight, but to send his porcine minion after him? That was inexcusable. What kind of man sends a beast to fight in his place?

But Saotome Ranma was no man. He might as well be a scared little girl for all that he had done. Ryoga smirked. Ranma wasn't going to be able to hide forever. One day, soon, he would be found, and Ryoga would crush him.

The path he took came to an abrupt end at a steep cliff. The fanged boy was only just attentive to avoid a fall. He skirted the cliff, still contemplating his hated foe, when he heard a loud crack and voices.

Ryoga, being a curious lad, decided to see what the noise was all about. He peered through the underbrush, and saw two people. One was a middle-aged woman with her raven-black hair in a bun behind her head. She wore a cerulean and white kendogi, and was holding a long-bladed sword.

He other was a boy, appearance similar to the woman. He wore a crimson and black kendogi, with his black hair tied back in a pigtail. Ryoga couldn't shake the feeling that he should recognize those facial features from somewhere.

"RANMA!" The boy snarled viciously. He pushed against the ground, trying to launch himself at his hated foe, but forgot that he has squatting on the edge of a particularly unstable cliff. Instead of providing forward momentum as he had hoped, the ground gave way, leaving the boy suddenly at the whim of gravity.

The Saotomes burst through the underbrush just a few seconds later, swords held in guard position, ready for a fight. Nothing was waiting for them but a cliff.

Confused, Ranma began poking the underbrush with his bokken. Nodoka, on the other hand, inspected the cliff. There was a section of the cliff face that had recently given way, the exposed dirt still fresh. Down below was a river, raging indifferently to anything that might have fallen into it.

"That's weird." Ranma commented. "I don't see anyone around."

Nodoka indicated to the disturbed cliff face. "You need to learn to pay more attention to your surroundings, son. It looks like your challenger-to-be fell off the cliff."

A look of concern flashed across his face. "Should we go down and help him?"

His mother shook her head. "No, Ranma. There is no need. The river is rapid, but shallow. If we can't see an injured man from here, then he was well enough to carry himself out of the riverbed and out of view in the time it took us to get here."

The boy nodded. "Can we get back ta' trainin', then? I don't wanna waste the time we have."

Nodoka smiled at him. "Of course, my son. After all, I expect you to have this and the other techniques mastered by the time we leave tomorrow. Unless you don't feel up to it?" Ranma smirked at the challenge. Oh yes, he was going to learn the techniques, even if it killed him.

Seventy meters below them, a small black piglet wearing a bandanna fought to pull its heavy bag out of the raging river. Just because the river was shallow for a human, didn't mean it was shallow for a tiny pig. It grunted, looking around for a place to set up a small heating element.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Monday, May 17 – Minato, Tokyo.

Ranma was walking to school on his own. After his first few days at Juuban junior high, Auntie Ikuko had stopped waking Usagi up early. Without the prompting, the blond girl no longer walked to school with him on a regular basis.

That was ok with him. After the weekend training, he was in no mood or condition to be listening to his cousin prattle on. If he wasn't so elated about learning not one, but _three_ Shinmei techniques over the weekend, we would probably be groaning about the mass of bruises that was his body.

How was he supposed to know that tree would fall his direction?

"Ranma-kun!" A girl yelled from behind him.

He turned around, and saw Naru and Mayumi running towards him. "Mornin'." He greeted them. In the short amount of time he had been here, Ranma had come to be good friends with Usagi's circle.

The short, plump girl took a look at him. "Ranma-kun, no offense, but you look like you've been dragged through a meat tenderizer. What happened?"

Naru concurred. "Yeah, you said your mom was taking you on a training trip. Surely she didn't beat you up during it, did she?"

The boy chuckled. "Nah, that was pops way of doin' things." The girls shared a look. "Most'a these bruises are from tha' beech tree that took offence ta' me usin' it at a target dummy."

Mayumi looked horrified. "You got hit by a tree?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not hit. It just landed on me when I hit the trunk too hard." He massaged his bruised shoulders for a moment. "S'okay, though. I learned all the stuff mom wanted me ta', and that's whats important, right?"

As with many of their conversations, silence was all that followed. They walked about a block further before Mayumi spoke up again.

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot! Last night, when I was helping my mom with groceries, we found the cutest black piglet freezing itself to death in the street!"

Naru's eyes lit up, while Ranma just looked bored. "Really?" The redhead responded with enthusiasm.

The other girl nodded. "Uh huh. The poor thing was all alone in the street. It had a nasty bump on its head, but we almost didn't notice with the bandanna it had on."

"Can I come over and see it after school?" Naru asked.

"Come over and see what?" Asked Yumiko as she and Kuri joined them outside of the school gates.

Ranma sighed as the girls began discussing plans to see Mayumi's new porcine companion after school. Umino, who had just joined them as they reached the shoe lockers, gave him a pitying look. "They do this all the time." He commiserated. "At least it's not just me and the girls anymore."

* * *

"Ranma! I don't understand how you can't be excited to see the little piggy!" Usagi squealed as the group approached Mayumi's home. When the other girls had told her about their afterschool plans, she had not only jumped to see the little pig, but managed to convince Ranma to come along, too.

The boy shook his head. "'Sagi, this just isn't the kinda thing a guy goes outta his way to see, ya' know." He stuck his hands behind his head, and was immediately splashed from behind. "Hey!"

Yumiko giggled as she put her water bottle away. "Well, a piglet is _just_ the sort of thing a girl will go out of her way to see, so you should be just fine now." The others in the group joined in on her giggling as the irate Saotome girl grumbled.

Soon enough, they arrived at an apartment complex near the Juuban shopping center. Mayumi lived a few floors up in one of the family apartments. The girls chatted happily as they took their shoes off. Ranma just sighed. How exactly had Usagi convinced her to come along?

"He's in here." Mayumi said as she led the group into her room. On her desk was a small wire cage with a black piglet inside. It was staring intently at the latch of the cage, and turned to see who had entered. The small porcine carefully looked over each and every person, making them feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Kuri took an involuntary step back. "Uwah… Mayumi-chan, your pig is creeping me out." She kept her eyes locked on the animal.

The pig, on the other hand, was looking at Ranma. The currently-female martial artist shuddered involuntarily. She felt a strong killing intent coming from the miniature pig. "Mayumi-chan" Usagi spoke up. "Can I go get Ranma some hot water?" She was getting unsettled by the pig as well.

She nodded. "Sure, Usagi-chan. There should be water in the kettle." The pig, having heard the blond girl, narrowed its eyes at Ranma. The pigtailed girl found herself inclined to turn away from the cage.

Mayumi took the pig out of the cage, in an attempt to calm it down. The only response she got from it was a fight as the smaller creature struggled in her grasp. "Hey, calm down, little guy!" She said in a calming voice. "We're not going to hurt you."

Her odangoed friend chose this moment to return with the kettle. She handed it to Ranma, who absently poured part of it over his head. The pig's eyes widened at the sight, and it began struggling against Mayumi with a vengeance. Before she could protest, the porky menace escaped her grasp and leapt at the now-male Saotome.

"Hey! Watch it!" He said, avoiding the porcine projectile. Some of the water from the kettle spilled out, splashing the seething swine.

The girls gasped in horror as it's form shifted, rapidly becoming a boy their age, sans clothing. There was a dull thud as Yumiko collapsed, blood flowing freely from her nose. The boy turned to face them, with a look the revealed nothing, but a body that showed everything.

Ryoga, now human and standing in the buff, snarled at his eternal nemesis. "Ranma! Hiding from me as a woman? Ha! I knew you weren't a man!"

"Who tha' hell are you!?" Ranma barked back at him. "And where d'ya get off sayin' I'm not a man, pig-boy?"

The other boys face contorted in rage. "You don't remember me, you honorless coward?"

Still angry, he managed a shrug. "Nope. Not ringin' any bells."

"You ran out on our man-to-man fight last year! You know, the one behind my house?"

He shook is head again. "Still nothin'."

"You kept stealing my bread, you bastard!"

Ranma slammed his fist into his palm. "Oh! You're Ryoga! I remember now." His features darkened again. "Where d'ya get off saying _I'm_ honorless? You're tha' one who never showed up to tha' fight, pork-brain."

His rival snarled again at the comment. "I came there on the fourth day after our fight, and you had already run away to China with your dad." He crushed his fists into balls. "That day, I vowed to follow you to the ends of the earth!"

"And ya' got a Jusenkyo curse for the trouble." Ranma filled in. The bare boy glowered at him even more.

He continued his rant. "I've seen hell because of you!"

The pigtailed boy snickered. "Well, we're seein' somethin' worse because of you, now."

A sudden breeze through an open window told Ryoga exactly what his hated foe meant. His face fluctuated between red and purple for a moment, the realization that he was standing bare before a group of girls his age hitting home.

"RANMA! This is all your fault! Die!" The enraged streaker launched into a full-frontal assault against the pigtailed boy.

The girls screamed in horror as he charged. "It's a pervert! They shouted as they promptly evacuated the room, dragging the still unconscious Yumiko behind them. Ranma helpfully redirected him into the attached bathroom before chasing after the girls. Cramped quarters like these were bad enough for a style like Anything Goes, but adding in a group of girls made the apartment an extremely unfavorable battleground. Ryoga gave chase. "Get back here!" The hunt was afoot.

"Wait up!" Ranma shouted as he chased the girls down the hallway. They turned a corner, headed for the elevators, but the wall in front of them exploded.

A nude figure could be made out in the cloud. Ranma picked up a shard of broken concrete, and threw it at the shape. The girls took this opportunity to reverse course. They ran down the hallway until they hit a dead end. All that they could see were a number of doors to smaller apartments.

Usagi turned around, to see Ranma running up behind them. "Hey, have ya' found an open space for me ta' fight him? She shook her head.

"RANMA!" Came a booming shout. The building shook from an impact down the hall, and one of the doors was jostled open. The group rushed in, and closed it behind them.

They found themselves in a small, two-room apartment. There was a door leading out to a balcony on the far side of the room they were on. The girls wasted no time running for it as Ranma took a defensive stance. Usagi was first onto the balcony, looking over the guardrails at the ground.

Which was only a few feet below them. Not quite close enough to be easily climbable, but would be more that sufficient to escape, if they had something to climb on.

Like the radiator sticking from the wall of the building, making a convenient step to the ground. She sighed. Really, was it _that_ easy?

Outside of the room, Ranma could hear the sound of someone smashing open one of the other doors. 'Good,' he thought, 'looks like idiot's managed to get himself lost again.'

Usagi poked her head back through the door. "Ranma! Come on! We found your open space!" The boy didn't need to be told twice. He was out the door and over the rail within seconds. The sound of a wall giving way in the room they had just left told that Ryoga had also heard her.

The pigtailed boy hurried to the far side of the parking lot he had just landed in, while the girls dragged Yumiko into the street beyond. Ryoga burst through the balcony door in a shower of glass, leaping down to face his prey.

"No more running, Ranma." The boy growled, taking an aggressive stance. His blue-eyed counterpart calmly pulled his bokken from its case. This would be the perfect time to try some of those new techniques for real.

As the boys tensed, waiting for the moment to launch into an attack, a group of screams were heard. Ranma jerked his head to the side, to see a large group of girls wearing a variety of school uniforms pointing at Ryoga.

The brawler in the buff once again became very aware of his lack of clothing. Mortified, he dropped his stance to cover his vulnerable parts. Sadly for him, this was not enough for the girls, who began to pick up what small, throwable objects littered the street.

With cries of "Pervert!", They launched their volley at the boy. He shielded himself with one hand, sharp bouts of shame, if not pain, registering with each impact. After but a few seconds, he decided it was best to, ah, 'withdraw', rather than face the enraged girls.

"Damn you Ranma, this is all your fault!" He yelled as he ran away from the scene, a few of the girls giving chase in righteous indignation.

Naru poked her head around the column. "Wow." She said. "Was he… crying?"

Next to her, Mayumi nodded. "Probably tears of shame. There were girls from every school in the area in that group. By tomorrow, everyone will probably have heard of the "Perverted stripper in the bandanna."

The rest of the girls nodded sagely. On the ground, Yumiko began to stir. She rubbed her eyes out as the girls crowded around her. "I had the most wonderful dream…" Her words were followed by the sound of multiple people facefaulting.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

For once, Ryoga knew happiness. He was finally home, and not getting lost. His parents were here, as well; his mother was in the kitchen cooking up a feast, while he and his father were sparring in the rolling fields that surrounded the house.

It was just Ryoga, his parents, and his dog Shirokuro, surrounded by miles of wilderness. There were no classmates to pick on him for his lack of directional abilities, no nights spent alone under the cold skies, no cowardly jerks running away from fights. It was perfect.

The lost boy rolled over in his sleeping bag, oblivious to the torrential downpour outside of his tent. It had been a while since the last time he had experienced such a beautiful dream, and his subconscious would not let this chance be ruined.

* * *

At his home, Ranma was explaining the day's events to his mother. Usagi, who had accompanied him, added in details she though were important. This being Usagi, meant they usually ended up being trivial at best.

Nodoka was silent for a moment, before setting her tea down. "Ranma, dear," she began to ask, hesitantly, "What exactly was it that you did to the poor boy to set him off like that."

Her son sighed. "I probably wasn't tha' kindest to him, back in school." He launched into a quick recap of the school bread-theft of the year before, although he did add in that he always made sure to at least lead Ryoga to and from school.

"…And so, looks like tha' idiot followed me and pops ta' China, and got cursed at Jusenkyo." Ranma concluded.

The older woman just shook her head. "I can't even begin to imagine how someone could be so… petty!" She said while mentally amending, 'I hope that I wasn't _that_ bad before.'

Ranma snickered. "You have no idea, mom. Ya' should'a seen him at school sometimes. Every time somethin' bad happened ta' him, from stubbin' his toe, to breakin' a window, he'd point at some nearby kid an' say it was his fault." Nodoka gave him a disbelieving look, before heading to the kitchen.

She returned a moment later, carrying a folded letter. "I suppose you won't be needing this, then," She said, handing it to him, "but this arrived with the mail today." Ranma looked at the front, which read 'Letter of Challenge', before opening it and scanning the contents.

Usagi peeked over his shoulder as he read. "Hey," She said, pointing at the date listed. "Isn't that yesterday?"

Her cousin nodded. "Yup. Ryoga can't find his way outta a closet with one door. I bet he'll show up sometime 'round Thursday or Friday."

The blonde girl accepted the answer. She looked at the letter again, before being struck by the most random thought. "Ranma?" She asked. "Why did he want to 'meet you afterschool' on a Sunday, anyways?"

"Ya' know, I'm not sure. Maybe he's got a bad sense of time, too?"

"Could be."

Nodoka sat back and watched them. She decided that to keep a close eye on the school for a while. After all, she didn't want to miss her son's first duel after returning home.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

The next few days flew by quickly, as Ranma waited for Ryoga to show up. He knew that the lost boy was still in the area; he had been spotted around town by various classmates, asking for directions to the school. Word of Ryoga's… 'exposure' to the local girls had spread quite quickly as well, partially the reason he had yet to arrive at the school; nobody wanted to associate with the now-infamous 'pervert bandanna streaker.'

Some of the girls in his class had formed an impromptu 'pervert patrol', marking down the locations of Ryoga sightings on a fold-up pamphlet map. The fact that some of the reports came from people who encountered him just after he had returned to human form only reinforced the girl's allegations against him.

As such, it came as little of a surprise that Ranma was not the first person to spot the lost boy when he arrived halfway through Thursday's last class.

In fact, Ranma wasn't even aware that Ryoga had appeared until the sound of feminine indignation began filtering into the room. The class was quickly disrupted as students went to find out what was happening. The pigtailed boy gathered with the others at the window overlooking the front gate.

Outside, Ryoga was backed up to the water fountain, his umbrella out and shielding his head from the rain of small-to-medium sized projectiles being thrown at him by the girls. Ranma shook his head and turned to the teacher. "I'm gonna step out, if ya' don't mind." The boy indicated out the window. "Pork-brains there is waitin' for me."

The teacher sighed. There were only five minutes left in class, and it wasn't like he was going to be getting their attention back anytime soon. "Fine, Saotome-kun. Class dismissed."

Ranma quickly gathered up his belongings, and leapt out the second-story window, landing at the about halfway between the school and Ryoga's holdout. His rival, despite having to defend himself from the rain of objects, noticed the other boy approaching him. "Ranma, so you've decided to show up after all."

He simply smiled, and turned back towards the building. "Hey, could ya' let up on that?" He addressed to the girls. "It's gonna be hard ta' kick his ass if ya' keep on throwin' stuff like that." The girls quickly stopped their barrage, content in that fact that the new kid was taking a more direct approach against the pervert in their stead.

With a slight inclination of the head, Ranma calmly walked over to the sports fields. His opponent eyed him warily, before he too followed at a slow pace.

They came to a stop in the soccer field. Students from other classes were now beginning to funnel out of the building, and gather around to watch. Some of the more savvy spectators had even begun to take bets. An entire side of the field was taken up by the 'pervert patrol', which had temporarily become a cheer squad for Ranma.

Usagi and her friends sat on the incline of the field. "This is getting out of hand." Yumiko commented on the gathering spectacle. "Seriously, are the teachers going to just stand there, or are they going to do something about this?"

Naru pointed at the cheering section, where a few of the female teachers had joined in. "Does that answer your question?" She replied. Yumiko sighed in defeat.

Mayumi looked up at the sky. The day's cloud cover had begun to darken as soon as the crowds ushered themselves out of the building, taunting to rain on the cursed martial artists. "That doesn't look good," she commented.

On the field, Ranma smirked his opponent. "Well, Porky, looks like your reputation proceeds ya'." He said, trying his best to get a rise out of his opponent.

It worked. Ryoga pulled him umbrella off of his back as he tossed the cumbersome bag it was attached to off to the side. "Shut up, coward! Take this!" He launched forward, jabbing with his unusual weapon.

Ranma skated back a few paces, before veering off to the side. "Is that all ya' got?" He taunted. Ryoga's attack was pretty quick, and probably would have given him trouble a few weeks ago, before the ki-training with his mother. The boy decided to keep his bokken strapped to his back for now; the other boy wasn't enough of a challenge to require it.

Unfortunately, Ranma wasn't the only person to notice. Ryoga was fuming at how easily his foe had managed to escape his fastest opening attack. 'He's faster than I though. I need a way to keep him close.' He came to a mental consensus, and threw his umbrella.

The umbrella snapped open, and spun like a buzzsaw as it closed on the pigtailed fighter. He ducked as it flew overhead, curving into the sky. Ryoga took the chance to dash forward, tearing a bandanna off of his head. "Keep talking! Let's see how far you can run with this on you, coward!"

Ranma slid to the side, and back as Ryoga attempted to latch the fabric onto his wrist. "Ha! Like you'll ever get it on me." He continued his taunting. The fanged boy overextended himself in one of his tries, a slip-up that Ranma was more than happy to capitalize on. He snap-kicked the other boy in the gut, causing him to double over.

He wasn't completely incapacitated, however. Before Ranma could draw his leg back, Ryoga wrapped the bandanna around his ankle, and rolled back. His opponent was pulled off his feet by the momentum. He came out of the roll and to his feet, pulling the arm with the bandanna up. As Ranma came flying at him, Ryoga pulled his arm back to strike at the other boy's vulnerable spine.

Or at least, what he _thought_ was a vulnerable spine. Ranma wrapped one of his legs around the boy's striking arm, and used the force to spin his entire body over the limb. Ryoga's other arm, still attached to Ranma's ankle, went along with him, removing the lost boy's defenses. Ranma took advantage of this to expend the last of the momentum from his spin into Ryoga's chin, via a kick.

As the lost boy went careening back, Ranma retracted his bound leg with a snap. The bandanna, no longer being reinforced by his opponent's ki, tore under the strain.

Both fighters took a moment to collect themselves and assess the situation. Ranma slowly removed the remains of the bandanna, while adding in more taunts. "Ya' know, I was kinda lookin' forward to this all week. Didn't ya' train at _all_ when you were chasin' me?"

"Don't take me lightly!" Ryoga cried back, catching his umbrella as it came around from its wide pass. 'Damn it!' He groused mentally. 'The jerk's much better than a year ago. How did he get so fast?'

Ranma was much more calm in his assessments. 'Ryoga's got some durability going for him, and his strength seems about the same as mine, but he's probably not even reinforcing himself as much as I used to, before mom started training me.' The boy shuddered. 'If he ever found even a half-decent ki trainer, he'd be a monster.'

His opponent saw the boy shudder, and took it as a sign of weakness. He launched forward again, jabbing with his umbrella. Ranma shook his head as he prepared for the assault.

"Give it up, pork-brains." He said, redirecting the weapon. "How many times do I hafta beat you…" He punched the boy in the chin. "…Until you understand!" With a mighty kick to the torso, the other boy flew over the spectator crowd and towards the building. Ranma picked up the umbrella and threw it at his descending opponent.

Ryoga took a hard landing against the water fountain, cracking the empty basin. He began to shake his head clear, when his umbrella imbedded itself in the concrete a few centimeters from his left ear. He turned back to the field, to see Ranma approaching rapidly with a flying kick.

He began to remove the umbrella. As it shifted out, a small spigot of high-pressure water shot out from the side of it. Ryoga paused for a moment, before smirking in realization. He had a new weapon.

On the sidelines, Naru and Usagi gaped at the newest development. They knew exactly how much the blonde's cousin didn't want his secret exposed. "Come on, Usagi!" Naru said, pulling the other girl's shirt. "We have to do something!"

Ranma blanched in recognition, and began desperately redirecting his flight. By the time he had managed to land, Ryoga had already worked out how to manipulate the streaming water to his advantage.

"What's wrong, Ranma?" He asked with a sneer. "Afraid of a little water?" He moved his umbrella into the stream, sending a jet of liquid towards his foe. Ranma backpedaled away from the rapid flow, only to have Ryoga shoot yet another burst towards him.

In the back of his mind, he knew that Ryoga was trying to corral him, but there wasn't anything he could do if he wanted his curse to remain a secret. 'I shouldn't have played around at the beginning.' He griped to himself.

He dodged yet another stream of water, and suddenly found himself up against the wall of the school. His opponent struck the fountain again, producing another high-pressure jet of water. He adjusted the positioning of the umbrella a bit, until he was satisfied; Ranma was now penned in under a rain shelter.

Back in the crowd, people were starting to get suspicious. "What's Saotome doing?" "I don't know? Is he afraid of water?" "Hey! Stop fooling around and kick the pervert's butt already!"

Ranma tensed, falling into a basic defensive stance. 'This is bad…'

The other boy responded by removing a number of his bandannas. He flicked the cloth implements taunt with a quick infusion of ki, and let them fly. Ranma dodged some of them, but was quickly loosing ground to the whirling cloth disks. If something didn't change soon, he was going to be in major trouble.

"What's the matter, coward? Afraid to get wet?" Ryoga was enjoying this immensely. After all this time, he finally had Ranma at his mercy. "All it will take is one wrong move, and you'll show the school just how little of a man you actually are." Ranma ducked as one of the bandannas made another pass.

He was getting sick of this. At least he could get rid of the damn bandannas. The boy pulled his bokken loose from its carrying case, and pumped his ki into it. Another bandanna flew by, nicking his cheek, but that was it's last action. Ranma swept the wooden blade in a wide arc, starting at the offending cloth article, and knocked half of them out of the air.

Without contact with Ryoga, the bandannas couldn't sustain their shape under undue force, and fluttered to the ground. Another sweep took care of all that remained. Ranma swept the blade to the side, and looked Ryoga in the eyes. He still didn't have much room to fight, much less to get off any of his special attacks, but he wasn't going to that shake his confidence. Besides, the water was a two-way wall as far as pork-butt there was concerned.

"So, it looks like we've come ta' a stalemate." He said. It was true, in a manner of speaking. Both combatants were out of ways to reach each other without getting wet. In such a situation, if they couldn't fight with their bodies, they would fight with their words.

Ryoga snorted. "Have we? You can't hit me, and all I need to do to ruin you is move my umbrella. Face it, Ranma, this is my victory."

The crowd collectively scoffed. "Really? Your victory is to make him wet?" "I guess the new kid really _is_ afraid of water." "And? The pervert looks like he's just as afraid of it." "Can't we just go and kick his ass instead?" "No way man! Did you see what he was doing with those bandannas?"

Ranma looked around for a possible venue of escape. He had water flowing on two sides, a wall behind him, and a concrete awning above him. Unless he could either burrow through the ground, or move forward without getting wet, his secret was good as blown. Ryoga grabbed the handle of his umbrella, a sinister grin on his face.

Ranma couldn't suppress a cringe as Ryoga pulled the umbrella away, as the water…

… sputtered out and died.

* * *

Usagi pulled her head back inside of the maintenance shed, and turned to look at Naru and Umino. The geeky boy still had his hands gripped on the water control valve.

"You did it, Umino! The water shut off just in time!" She said, hugging Naru.

The boy looked down at his feet. "I'm the one who did all of the work. Why aren't you hugging me, Usagi-san?"

* * *

Ryoga turned to look back at the fountain, cursing the inconsistent water flow. Ranma, not wanting to waste a perfectly good opening, charged at his umbrella-wielding foe. The lost boy realized his mistake as soon as he heard Ranma charging, and brought his umbrella to bear.

The sound of reinforced wood striking reinforced metal reverberated across the yard as they clashed. Despite the short time in which Ryoga had to mount his defense, he was doing an exceptional job holding up in the pushing match the fight had become. While Ranma's reinforced muscles may put him on top strength-wise, he couldn't overcome his foe, who was braced against the remains of the fountain.

Instead, he pulled back. Ryoga, who had still been pushing against Ranma's bokken, stumbled forward at the sudden loss of his target. The fledgling shinmei punched him in the face, hard.

Ryoga reeled back, his umbrella flying from his hands. He hit the ground a few meters away from the fountain, and hurried to his feet. There wasn't time for him to grab his umbrella up again; Ranma was nearly upon him. The other boy's bokken cleaved the air above his head as he managed a last minute duck. He made another attempt to grab the umbrella, but Ranma put himself in the way.

Isolated from his main weapon, Ryoga pulled his belt out, hardened it with ki, and slashed at his opponent in a single motion. Ranma brought his bokken back to meet it with time to spare, and began to push the lost boy back. The lost boy strained with all of his might to hold his ground, but he couldn't keep up.

"Damn you, Ranma!" Ryoga said through gritted teeth. 'There's no way I'm going to loose to the coward!' he though. His situation was looking pretty grim, though. His messy ki-reinforcement of the belt was failing rapidly, and he was running out of tricks; he only had three bandannas left.

Showing a rare amount of tactical sense, the lost boy copied his opponent's earlier move, and ducked to the side. Unlike himself, Ranma didn't stumble forward, and turned to face him. It still gave Ryoga enough time to throw two of his remaining bandannas at the other boy. The Saotome boy ducked as the two well aimed projectiles flew at him. The lost boy cursed. That had been a last-ditch effort to hit him. Ranma slashed at the bandanna-wearing boy, unperturbed by the failed attack. He brought the blade to slash again, when he heard the girls behind him scream.

He turned around, and saw that the 'pervert patrol'/cheer section had dropped to the ground, the loose bandannas strafing over their heads. The boy cursed. He had forgotten about the crowd when he evaded Ryoga's attack.

"An opening!" Ryoga shouted in glee, as he struck his distracted foe in the face. The pigtailed by stumbled back a few steps, and retook a stance.

"Ryoga, you idiot!" He shouted, pointing behind himself. "What were ya' thinkin' with those bandannas!?"

The lost boy glanced over his foe as he attacked again. The bandannas were now on their return flight, having already tormented the girls. They were lined up to hit Ranma's back in just a few short moments. He smirked. "I was thinking they're about to pay off quite nicely."

Behind the lost boy, Usagi and her group turned the corner of the building, just in time to see the projectiles returning. "Ranma! Behind you!" Usagi shouted in warning.

Ranma ducked and rolled at the warning, coming to a stop a few meters away. He looked up, and saw to his horror that the bandannas had flown past Ryoga, and were headed directly for his cousin's group.

* * *

On the roof of the School, Saotome Nodoka was watching the fight. Earlier in the week, she had contacted one of her friends, an Art teacher, and asked her to give a call if Ryoga showed up. The moment the call had come in, she had grabbed her satchel and roof-hopped over.

She arrived just as the students were finishing forming a circle around the boys. Not wanting to miss even a single moment of her baby's first fight, Nodoka took it upon herself to record every moment in film.

And oh, how her manly son fought! From the beginning, he controlled the fight, using his command of Anything Goes, combined with her Ki training, to run circles around Ryoga. He hadn't even needed his bokken to fight off the weapon-using opponent.

She was, however, much less pleased when water had gotten involved in the fight. The elder Saotome had frowned in disapproval when her son had let himself be boxed in by such a simple ploy, although she could understand his hesitance to reveal his curse. Fortunately, Usagi and her friends had come through for him. She'd have to tell Ikuko about the role her daughter played in the fight; she'd be glad to know her child was willingly putting herself out for her cousin.

Now, though, she saw the course the bandannas were headed, and cursed and jumped off the roof, leaving the camera behind. First fight of her son, or not, there was no way in hell she was going to let her niece get hurt because of another martial artist's carelessness.

* * *

The blonde girl could see the lethal bandannas headed right towards her, but she couldn't do anything about it. They were coming so quickly! She didn't have any reflexes to act on for something like this, like to duck, or dodge out of the way!

Behind her, Umino and Naru were calling her name. Umino had pulled the redhead to the ground when he saw the projectile headed for them, but had been too far away to pull Usagi down, as well. As the bandannas approached, Usagi shielded her face with her hands and screamed, although she expected no help. After all, what could save her now?

* * *

Chiba Mamoru bolted upright in his seat. The rest of the class stared at him, although he didn't notice. His eyes were unfocused, and his forehead burned. What was this feeling, like someone was calling for help?

"Chiba-san?" The teacher asked, getting his attention. "Is something wrong?"

He blinked back into reality, and was suddenly aware of the stares from his classmates. Face flushed, he sat down again. "I'm sorry, sensei. I just though I heard someone calling me."

* * *

After a few seconds with no feeling of pain, the blonde girl opened her eyes. Wasn't it supposed to hurt when you got hit by something sharp? Those bandannas sure _looked_ sharp, the way they had cut up the wall when that meanie had thrown them at Ranma. The girl looked at her arms. They didn't look very cut up, like she had imagined. In fact, they didn't look any different than they had a moment ago.

"Usagi-chan!" She looked up, to see Nodoka rushing over to her. The woman enveloped her in a hug the moment she was in range. The action was enough to shake the girl out of her shock. She immediately started wailing.

"I thought I was gonna die!" She babbled, clinging to Nodoka.

Standing next to them, Umino looked at the tree behind Usagi, which now sported two limp bandannas hanging out of the trunk. He had been in shock as they had barred down on the blonde, but either by good fortune, or some semblance of dodging reflex, the cloth projectiles had passed just a few centimeters high of the girl's head.

The lost boy scowled at the entire scenario. Because Ranma didn't have the decency to get hit by his attack, that cute girl over there was almost hurt! What kind of man does that? He was about to give the coward a piece of his mind, when he felt an incredibly strong killing intent behind him. Ryoga turned around, and found himself face-to-face with an enraged Ranma, followed directly the girls that had been cheering the pigtailed boy on before. Strange, how some of the girls' clothes were cut up. How could that have happened?

Ryoga decided this was the perfect chance to put in some good words for himself. "Ranma!" He said, raising his voice. "Look what you almost did!"

This, of course, had exactly the opposite effect to what he had intended. If the girls behind his foe had been angry before, they were downright furious now. The enraged horde pulled out blunt objects, and quickly surrounded Ryoga. "Wrong comment, porky." Ranma spit out, before nodding to the girls. The lost boy had just enough sense to whimper, before his world went pain.

From the sidelines, Usagi, Naru, Umino, and Nodoka watched Ranma and the girls pound Ryoga into a fine paste. Umino adjusted his glasses, and said, "I wouldn't have thought Ranma-kun would let the girls join in like this."

Naru winced. "Are his knees supposed to make sounds like that?"

"Seriously, are the teachers just going to let this happen?" Yumiko asked once again.

"I think I saw Haruna-sensei and Kugimiya-sensei join in a moment ago." Umino replied.

Nodoka shook her head. "Blaming other people for your mistakes isn't very manly."

The rest of the group looked at her. She blinked, realizing what she had said, and coughed into her hand. "I think we've let them go on long enough." She said, trying to divert attention away from her slipup.

She hurried over to the crowd, clapping her hands. "Alright girls! That's enough already!" Reluctantly, the mob backed away from the remains of the lost boy, their gazes continued to bore into his ruined form. Soon, only the two Saotomes stood beside him.

Ryoga groaned weakly. One of his eyes flickered open for a moment, before he tried vainly to flip himself over and crawl away from his observers. Somewhere, in a functioning section of his mind, he was cursing. If he could just drag himself around the corner, that coward and the woman next to him would get lost, like always.

The Saotomes would have none of it, though. Nodoka struck her foot down on the tattered remains of this pants, anchoring him in place, while Ranma walked in front of him. "Goin' somewhere, bacon-breath?" He asked. The lost boy slumped his head, mumbling something about cowards and blame.

Before either Ranma or his mother could take another move, a loud crack of thunder and a bright flash of lightning directly above them cheerily announced the imminent rain. As the first drops of rain hit the ground, the pigtailed boy darted for cover, soliciting more speculation from the on looking crowd that the boy was hydrophobic.

Distracted by the sudden downpour, Nodoka turned her attention away from the boy at her feet, who quickly melted into a tiny black piglet under the rain. The elder Saotome noticed the cloth under her foot go slack, but it was too late; Ryoga managed to muster all of his remaining strength, and dashed into the underbrush.

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Hours later, the lost pig collapsed against a tree. Since he had made his escape, he had alternated between running, dragging, and collapsing his way as far from Ranma's school as possible. Under normal circumstances, not even an obstinate Hibiki could have made as much progress in as little time while so heavily injured as the pig had, but Ryoga was too lost in his thoughts to notice his wounds.

'How was he so good?' The pig thought, trying to come to his feet. 'Last time we fought, I had an obvious strength advantage, and I've been further training it constantly on my search. There's no way Ranma could have beaten my super-strength training in a year! He must have been cheating!'

The half dazed porcine stumbled on, barely avoiding trip holds scattered around the forest floor. Not that it really mattered to him. While his conscious mind was baffling over how he had lost to Ranma, his subconscious was sliding into a spiral of depression. He had spent so much time in pursuit of the pigtailed boy, he had suffered some many injuries, misfortunes, and slights on his quest, and all for what? To be repeatedly embarrassed and beaten. He had tried so hard, but had failed. A sickly green glow began to encompass him as these thoughts slid to the forefront of his mind.

Before he could fall into a crushing cycle of despair, however, he heard a loud bark and the sound of running feet. The pig turned his head towards the sound, and was greeted by a canine face; half back, half white, and covered by a wide doggie grin. "Shirokuro…" He tried to say, although it was actually rendered as a string of soft oinks.

Shirokuro tilted her head to the side, confused. She smelled her master nearby, although all she could see was a tiny piglet. The dog moved her muzzle up to the pig, and sniffed it. It was her master! He was finally home! Shirokuro licked Ryoga's face, and with a happy bark, picked the boy turned pig up by the bandanna. She trotted home, carrying her tiny master along with her.

The lost pig smiled wearily. Shirokuro never wandered more than a few blocks from home, and always lead him back when she found him nearby. It seems that even as a pig, his faithful companion was there to support him in his time of need. 'Good old Shirokuro' he though, as sleep began to gnaw on the edges of consciousness. 'At least you'll never abandon me. Not like everyone else.'

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

**OMAKE**

* * *

-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-()-

* * *

Ranma and the girls ran down the hallway until they hit a dead end. All that they could see were a number of doors to smaller apartments. None of the doors looked particularly promising.

"Which one should we take?" Naru asked, panicky over being chased by the nude boy.

"I don't know!" Mayumi responded.

"RANMA!" A voice screamed behind them. The girls covered their eyes as the naked Hibiki turned the corner.

The pigtailed boy shook his head. "Oh, for the love of… this one!" He opened the closest door, and pushed the girls through. Ryoga glared at the door as it slammed shut behind his nemesis.

With an angry yell, Ryoga pulled the door open, and gave chase. No sooner had the door closed, did another farther down the hall open, and Ranma's group rushed out and across the hall, through the door on the other side. Ryoga followed just a few moments later.

Ranma, Kuri, and Naru burst through the door two down, and on the other side of the hallway before Ryoga had completely shut the door. They ran one door down diagonally, before disappearing again. No sooner had they shut it, than Usagi and Mayumi rushed out of the door next to it, dragging Yumiko behind them. Ryoga suddenly popped out of the door they had all originally entered, stopping to scratch his head, when Ranma appeared from the door on the far end of the hall, carrying Yumiko. He spotted the lost boy, and immediately returned through the door.

Not missing the chance, the lost boy gave chase once again. One of the doors in the middle opened, and a group of Americans with a dog ran directly across, being chased by a monster. The door the exited through opened again several seconds later, as Usagi and Ryoga ran out. They looked at each other, before the blonde made like her frightened namesake, and darted through another door.

This continued for another minute or so, before the children managed to find their way to the parking lot. On the balcony of an adjacent building, an old lady slapped her husband. "Stop playing that damn saxophone already, they've stopped."

* * *

A/N: Huh, I guess transitioning from writing on a laptop to a desktop is a bit more disruptive than I'd thought. Well, there's a bit more to the long break than that, but it's as good an excuse as any. Honestly, the chapter's been mostly finished since mid-august, I've just had trouble with the last half of the fight. Oh well, at least it's up now, and the next one shouldn't take quite as long.

Hopefully.

Regardless, about the chapter;

- One of the biggest conclusions that can be drawn from the manga is that, while Ranma is always rather quick to pick up on new techniques, he only picks them up at ridiculous speeds when he goes on training trips specifically to learn them, while getting half-killed in the process. Although it's not exactly correct, I've translated this over to mean that the speed that he picks up abilities is related to how much damage he sustains in learning it.

- Ryoga in this version of events is currently a little weaker than Ranma. While this may seem over-empowering to Ranma, as in canon, Ryoga was stronger, while Ranma was faster, it's actually rather terrifying, considering that Ranma is using a high-efficency ki-reinforcement technique to boost his strength, while Ryoga is using almost vanilla muscle and hard work. Should Ryoga learn the same ki-reinforcement, bad things would happen, particularly to anyone too slow to avoid his fists.

- In addition, while Ryoga might seem a bit more vicious than most of canon, I actually took his personality from his first few appearances in the manga (Before the Rhythmic Gymnastics arc), where he pulls stunts such attacking Ranma without challenge, throwing potentally-leathal weapons into crowds, attempting to make a killing-blow on Ranma in his sleep, and more. Like the canon version, he'll mellow out once he has a reason to interact with Ranma beyond vengeance.

- One of the earlier versions of the chapter, when Usagi was about to get hit by the bandanna, she sported a golden crescent on her forehead, a la Chibiusa in Sailor Moon R during her tantrums. I later figured that this didn't fit the pacing, and cut it.

Speaking of foreheads, though, why was Mamoru's burning when Usagi was in trouble?

- Despite years of deprograming from Saeko and Ikuko, Nodoka is still far from completely cured of her manliness fixation. While she's been doing a good job covering up, as both she and Ranma are still treading lightly around each other, trying to give their best impressions, she's beginning to slip. Only time will tell if this continues as they become more comfortable with their current situation.

Next chapter: Ranma in Nerima? Everyone's least-favorite chinese warrioress arrives! (Now featuring Sailor V and the Dark Kingdom).


End file.
